


Mind Over Matter

by carpetburnz



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, F/M, Porn With Plot, Romance, Shameless Smut, Some chapters are literally just porn so..., ✩ SPOILERS IF you don't know Hawkmoth's identity in the show ✩
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2020-12-22 18:00:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 60,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21080738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carpetburnz/pseuds/carpetburnz
Summary: ✩ Contains spoilers if you do not know Hawkmoth's identity in the show ✩After Hawkmoth is defeated and Paris is safe, Marinette and Adrien are able to continue their lives as normal teenagers. But when her beloved Adrien leaves Paris and her trusted partner Chat Noir suddenly disappears, Marinette is left feeling torn and turns to the only other person she feels herself with.However, high school was a long time ago.Now Marinette has begun studying at university, and atop of assessments and love complications, Adrien has finally returned home to Paris.





	1. Homecoming

**✩ Contains spoilers if you do not know Hawkmoth's identity in the show ✩**

The entire city of Paris was abuzz with the news. 

Marinette had first heard rumours about it during her early morning lecture, her tongue stuck out the corner of her mouth as she scribbled down notes, the lecture hall around her slowly dispersing into quiet chatter as their professor droned on. She hadn't really being paying attention until she had heard his name among the soft whispers, and her head had perked up at the sound. 

"It _is_ him, right?" Marinette heard one student murmur to their friend sitting beside them, and Marinette's eyebrows pulled together in confusion as she searched the rooms. 

"It looks just like him," Another student whispered a few rows ahead, and Marinette tried her best to peer over and peek a glance at the mobile phone. 

She frowned as she pulled her own mobile out of her bag, somewhat stunned that Alya hadn't even sent her a message yet considering her entire lecture hall was engrossed in the news. Marinette tapped into her phone contacts and sent a text to her surprisingly quiet best friend.

** MARINETTE: ** _So, something's going on I think... Everyone in this lecture is whispering about something._

** MARINETTE:** _I would think it was an akuma if it weren't for the lack of screaming, lmao. _

She drummed her fingernails - light green was her new colour as of late, most likely to do with the Spring season - against the desk as she waited, trying her best to shift her focus back to her lecture but failing as the whispers continued. Marinette almost pounced on her phone when it vibrated, and she felt her breath catch as she read the text preview. She shook her head. She mustn't have read that right. 

**ALYA:** _I know, Nino just told me. It’s about Adrien. _

Marinette frowned. 

**MARINETTE: **_What about Adrien?_

** ALYA: ** _Adrien's come back to Paris. _

* * *

Paris was alight. 

The city shone in the warm night, and Marinette clung to the polka-dot wrapped parcel in her hands. She sipped nervously from her cocktail, rolling her straw (metal, of course) along her teeth as she swivelled back and forth in the bar chair.

”Mari, could you relax just a little bit?” Alya sighed, though she smiled as she tucked her reddish hair behind her ears. Alya sipped from her own drink, cool and calm as she surveyed the rowdy bar. “It’s been years since school and you’re still going nuts over Adrien Agreste.” 

“I’m not going nuts!” Marinette defended, a little too quickly, and she tapped her heeled foot against the floor as she anxiously tongued her straw. 

How long had it been since she last saw Adrien? He had left not too long after the... _incident_, and they had mostly interacted through comments on his Instagram photos and on special occasions, a quick and brief instant message. It must have been maybe six years since then? Give or take. She had been sixteen when Adrien had left Paris, and yet, Marinette still felt the inner swirlings of her crush bloom deep within her stomach. 

Marinette might have confided in Tikki... That was, if she still had her miraculous and her kwami. After Hawkmoth’s defeat, Master Fu had asked for the miraculouses back - only temporary, he had promised - and with her miraculous, Tikki had disappeared too. It had been _different_ since then, and after her teary departure from Tikki, she felt as if a part of her had been cut out. It made sense, after all, she had spent three years with Tikki and as super-heroine Ladybug. It had been hard to let go, even if it wasn't forever. 

But Tikki wasn't the only thing that Marinette lost. 

Chat Noir had disappeared, too. 

Sure, it was only natural considering that Master Fu had taken her miraculous - he would have taken Chat Noir's too. But it seemed a little abrupt to Marinette, like they hadn't really been given the chance to properly say goodbye or just talk after Hawkmoth had been defeated. She wondered if they would have revealed their true identities to one another or if that would have even something that they could do. Even though they no longer had their miraculouses, they would get them back eventually. Maybe revealing their identities wouldn't be an option, after all. Regardless, it was too late to do anything now. Chat Noir wasn't around anymore, just like Tikki, and for some reason, it hit a lot harder than Marinette had expected it to. 

"And don't forget," Alya mentioned, waking Marinette from her own thoughts. She was munching on a small block of ice, shaking her empty glass. "Kagami." 

Ah, yes. Kagami. 

"I didn't forget," Marinette said stubbornly. She sniffed and straightened her back, took a sip from her cocktail and continued, "Kagami is a friend of mine, remember?" 

"And Adrien's girlfriend," Alya added.

Marinette abandoned her straw and downed the rest of her drink. She blinked, meeting Alya's eyes as she told her, "I'm _over_ Adrien. We've both been in happy relationships since high school. It was just a silly crush." 

Alya cocked an eyebrow, but if she didn't believe Marinette, she chose to keep it to herself. What did Alya know, after all? As far as Marinette was concerned, her love life wasn't anyone's business but her own. She pouted as she waved the bartender over for another drink, and she plucked at the tight jumpsuit- sure, she looked good but at what _cost__?_

"Hey!" Alya shouted abruptly, and Marinette wobbled in the bar stool, eyes widening in momentary surprise at the sudden outburst. It wasn't directed at her, Marinette realised, but rather the two boys approaching them... 

_Oh, dear. _

Marinette straightened, tried to preoccupy herself with her fidgeting fingers, and when the bartender had finally returned with her new drink, she snatched it and guzzled down a mouthful. 

"_Jesus_, Marinette," Alya mumbled through closed teeth, her mouth spread into a grin as she waved Nino over. "Relax." 

There was no relaxing beyond this point. 

"Yo, what's up, ladies?" Nino greeted, smiling lazily as he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against Alya's forehead. Marinette's movements were robotic as Nino hugged her , and she felt Alya nudge her shin with the tip of her foot. "Nice 'do, Marinette. Curled hair suits you."

She touched a curl with the tip of her finger without even realising and felt her face grow warm. 

"Thanks, Nino," Marinette said, though she wouldn't admit that it had taken her an hour and a half to style her hair. 

"Hey Marinette, it's been a while." 

Marinette momentarily froze, expression stuck in an awkward smile, and it wasn't until Alya deliberately threw an arm over her shoulders that she snapped out of her childlike stupor. 

"Six years to be exact," Alya cut in, creating conversation so smoothly as if she were cutting butter. "You look good, Agreste. Time away has done you good." 

Marinette tensed, and she stared wide-eyed across at Alya. "A-Alya," she began timidly, but surprisingly, Adrien chuckled. 

"Travelling has been nice," Adrien agreed, and when his eyes met Marinette's, her cheeks flushed with a sudden warmth. She fixed her attention on her drink as the group shared in idle chit-chat. 

She felt stupid. Marinette was twenty-one, almost twenty-two years old and yet, nothing had changed from since they were kids. She was shy and restrained, completely and utterly dumbstruck around Adrien Agreste, and she was irritated with herself. Marinette had never been like this with Luka - not when they had first started dating, not when they'd had their first kiss. Hell, Marinette was fairly certain that she didn't feel as shy losing her virginity to Luka than she felt around Adrien at that very moment. Sure, Marinette had always revered him to such an extent but _why? _Weirdly, she felt a little disappointed in herself. She had thought that after six years that she would be truly over her silly little high school crush.

Adrien had grown taller, a lot taller than he had been when she had last saw him, although Nino was now the taller of the two. His hair was still light blonde and looked oh so soft to the touch, and Marinette noticed that he now had a stubbly chin and cheeks. She thought that it was quite cute - it deviated away from the Gabriel fashion label, and Marinette wondered if that was exactly why Adrien had let his facial hair grow out. 

"_O-Oh!_" Marinette suddenly blurted, and the three turned to look at her with confused expressions. "Um, this..." She continued to mumble, fumbling with the cutely wrapped parcel in her hand. Marinette tapped her heeled shoe against the floor, sliding her now empty glass onto the bar before she held the package out for Adrien. "I made this for you, Adrien. Think of it as a welcome back present." 

"You made something for me?" Adrien asked as he gingerly took the present from Marinette's hands, and out of all that had happened, she found it endearing that Adrien was still the polite young boy that she had met all those years ago. "Thanks, Marinette. Can I open it now?" 

Marinette glanced between Nino and Alya, both of who shrugged, so Marinette said, "Sure! It's- um- not much, just a little something." Marinette ordered another drink - a dirty martini this time - as Adrien carefully unwrapped the present, trying her best to act nonchalant, like it was no big deal when it felt like her stomach was really a butterfly cage. When she heard the tell-tale sound of fabric being removed from the wrapping paper, Marinette risked a quick peek. 

Adrien was smiling at the white fabric - a tank top for the warm weather, with the Eiffel Tower stitched in simply with black cotton. Her signature was beneath the Eiffel Tower, her name written in tiny letters to the right of the base. Marinette wondered if she should have stitched her signature on the shirt in the first place. Now that she thought about it, it might have been a little weird to have it in such a visible spot-

"You're so talented, Marinette," Adrien told her, smiling fondly as he ran his fingers over the careful stitching. He glanced up at her, and for a moment, Marinette felt entranced by the bright green of his eyes. He folded the shirt up neatly, wrapping it up again before placing it securely inside his backpack. "Thank you, Marinette. It's awesome." He'd been standing and Marinette had been sitting, but it didn't stop him from bending down to hug her, arms warm and smooth against hers as he held her close. She could smell his cologne and the fruity freshness of his shampoo, and Marinette's heart raced as she felt his against her chest, steady and relaxed. She was blushing when he finally let her go, stepping back to adjust his bag over his shoulders again, and Marinette bit down on her bottom lip as she slipped off the bar stool. 

"I'm just going to the bathroom," Marinette told them meekly, smoothing down her skirt and walking through the bar with an unsteady sway to her step. 

* * *

"Are Marinette and Luka still dating?" Adrien asked. 

"Nah," Nino told him after he'd taken a swig of his drink. "They broke up a couple years ago, actually." 

"Marinette was turning nineteen, I think," Alya added. "So they'd been dating for a good two years or so."

"I see," Adrien said, his chin in his palm as he watched Marinette and Luka at the pool table. Her movements were wobbly and erratic as she hung off Luka's shoulder, only mere inches away from hitting innocent bystanders with the pool-stick. Admittedly, she wasn't very good at pool, especially in her state, but it appeared to be the only thing keeping her distracted from buying more alcohol. That, and Luka. 

"What about you?" Alya asked him, and Adrien raised his eyebrows as he dragged his stare from Marinette and Luka, and towards her. 

Adrien glanced across at Nino, who only shrugged, and Adrien fidgeted with the mouth of his almost empty beer bottle as he said, "Kagami and I broke up a couple months after we started dating."

"You did? How did I not know this?" Alya sounded genuinely surprised, and Adrien tried his best not to look at Nino. Of course he had told his best friend when it had happened, though he had expected that after six years, Nino would have eventually told Alya. She was Nino's girlfriend of seven years, after all. Although, he couldn't help but feel grateful for Nino's secrecy - even if it wasn't that big of a deal, anymore. Nino must have said or done something, because Alya quickly followed up with, "I mean - I'm sorry to hear that, Adrien." 

"It's okay," he said as he leaned back in his chair, and he did mean it. Things between him and Kagami hadn't ended on bad terms; in all honestly, it had never really felt like they'd really been dating - apart from the kisses and dates, of course. They had only been dating for a month or two before Adrien moved away from Paris, and they just hadn't seemed compatible after that. Adrien sipped from his drink, eyes glancing curiously over at Marinette and Luka again. Luka was helping Marinette line up a shot, bent over her body, his hands guiding hers. 

Adrien looked away. 

He wondered if they still had a thing for each other. 

"Well, out of our high school class, it looks like Nino and I have the longest running relationship," Alya began proudly, buffing her fingernails against her chest. She winked teasingly at Adrien, and contemplated for a short moment before adding, "Although, I've always had an inkling that Juleka and Rose were secretly dating way before me and Nino." 

"Those two have always been inseparable," Nino agreed.

Pleased with the new conversation topic, Adrien smiled and asked, "How is everyone else? Everyone from our old class?" 

"Good," Nino nodded, and Alya smacked at his hips as he carefully set his drink on the top of her head. "Juleka finally got into modelling." There was a short pause, and Nino hurriedly continued, "And Nathaniel's still doing his art. Last I heard, he was doing really well." 

"Alix got into the rollerblading championships," Alya added, slowly stirring her own drink as she glanced across at Marinette. Adrien followed her gaze. Apparently, Marinette and Luka had called it quits on playing pool, and now, Luka was holding her upright as she lectured him about something Adrien couldn't exactly hear. They slowly made their way back towards the group. "Oh, jeez," Alya sighed. 

"I'm sorry," Luka winced, and Alya was immediately asking the bartender for a bottle of water.

"You see?" Marinette slurred, head pressed back into his shoulder-blade as she talked up to - well, nothing really. 

"What's she talking about?" Alya asked. 

"I don't know," Luka answered. "She was fine one minute, and then the next..." 

"Does she do this often?" Adrien asked curiously, a small smile tugging on the corners of his lips as Marinette's head lolled, and her mouth broke into a dopey grin. 

"Not really," Alya said as she tried to press the lip of the water bottle against Marinette's mouth. "Though, she's more likely to drink a lot when she's stressed."

"Or nervous," Luka added. Marinette was beginning to turn into jelly in Luka's arms, and Adrien watched, an uncomfortableness in his gut as Luka's grip around her hip tightened. They had dated for a few years, this was something that Luka had probably experienced a few times every now and again. "Maybe I should take her back to her room." 

Alya and Nino exchanged glances, and Adrien raised an eyebrow when Alya finally said, "No, it's okay." 

"Are you sure?" Luka asked. 

"I could take her," Adrien suggested. All three turned to look at him, Marinette speaking incoherently to no one in particular. "I was going to head back home, anyway. I'll take her back to her room so you guys can stay a little longer." 

"Well," Alya started slowly, gaze flicking to Marinette for a short second. "Do you know how to get to her building?" 

"Just text me, I can figure it out from there. How hard could it be?"

* * *

Okay, so it was a little harder than Adrien had anticipated but he'd managed to get there eventually.

Marinette had been little to no help, even when he had stopped and asked her if they were going in the right direction. She'd raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes so wide that Adrien had actually snorted, looked around as if she were seriously considering where they were, and then thrown her head back and sighed, '_don't know!' _

It was a large campus - Adrien was impressed, and he'd nervously fumbled through Marinette's purse to retrieve the key to her room. He had been surprised when Alya had admitted that they weren't roommates; that they had, in fact, started off staying together in the same room in the university accommodation, but Alya had eventually moved to stay with Nino, and Marinette had never gotten another roommate after that. So it was just Marinette on her own. Adrien could relate to that. 

He was careful not to slam the door closed behind them, and he adjusted his grip around Marinette's waist as she tried to stumble towards the couch. 

"How about we get you into your bed, instead?" Adrien suggested, carefully releasing his hold once he was sure that Marinette wouldn't instantly tumble to the ground. 

"Thank you for walking me home," Marinette hummed dreamily, eyes half-lidded as she smiled up at him. Adrien noticed that she was noticeably shorter than she had been when he had last seen her six years ago. Or Adrien had just grown. The latter made more sense. "My sweet prince."

Adrien chuckled nervously, and his face suddenly felt warm. He hoped that Marinette was still tipsy enough that she wouldn't register his blushing cheeks. 

Adrien had always thought that Marinette was pretty, even now when her curled hair was a mess and her legs wobbled in her high-heeled shoes. Adrien smiled. Yeah, she was pretty. Really pretty. 

"Do you want some help?" Adrien asked her as he watched her struggle with her shoes, and she collapsed back onto the couch, her legs stretched up high by her head. 

_Wow. Marinette was flexible. _

"How about this?" Adrien carefully lowered her leg, and with nimble fingers, he undid her heels and placed them carefully to the side of the couch. "There, is that better-" 

Marinette's face was so close that Adrien could smell the lavender-scented product she used in her hair, the sweetness of her perfume, the scent of vanilla from her lipstick. He swallowed thickly, mouth opening, but Marinette's lips felt electric against his own as she kissed him, and his heart jumped at the feeling of her palm on his jaw. Marinette was _soft_, her skin, her lips; the slow, tantalising drag of her mouth against his so irresistible. Adrien pushed himself higher onto his knees, lips parting as he gasped out and caught her top lip between his. He felt her body against his own, warm and hot and Adrien's hands were on her thighs and Marinette's teeth tugging on his lips, and heat was rapidly pooling in his groin and- 

"Wait- Marinette, no," Adrien finally said, voice thick as he pulled away. Marinette's cheeks were flushed, her eyes glistening in the darkness of her room, and Adrien wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through her hair and- _No, bad. _

"Yeah," Marinette protested. 

Adrien shook his head. "No. You've drunk a lot, it's not right."

Marinette smiled, eyes closed as she murmured, "My sweet prince." 

She fell asleep shortly after. 

Adrien sighed and wiped his forehead, legs shaky as he pushed himself onto his feet. He felt bad leaving Marinette on the couch, so, doing his best not to wake her and avoid another one of her surprises, Adrien carefully scooped her into his arms and tiptoed into the small bedroom. Her bedspread was pink - somehow, Adrien thought that he probably should've been able to guess that. He brushed curled strands of hair out of her face as he gently tucked her in, dragging the sheets up to her shoulders and nestling the water bottle next to her side. 

His smile was faint as he watched her sleep, quietly, peacefully. He was reluctant, but his heart won out in the end, and Adrien pressed his lips against her temple. Marinette stirred, but had completely succumbed to the world of sleep and dreams.

Before leaving, Adrien whispered, "Goodnight, princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catch me on tumblr if ya want  
www.tumblr.com/blog/sweetburnz
> 
> //will continue after completing kitty cats and erotica//  



	2. Flexible

Marinette wasn't entirely accustomed to nursing hangovers since she didn't drink much; and now she was reminded of exactly _why_ she didn't drink much.

Her head ached, she felt sluggish and slow, and her stomach could barely handle anything other than bananas and multi-grain crackers - and tea, which Marinette was so incredibly thankful for as she slowly rubbed at her temples and stared down at the pitch black goodness in her mug. Fortunately, the campus gym’s cafeteria wasn’t overly busy on Saturday mornings, so Marinette at least had some peace and quiet to sulk over her pounding headache and ebbing nausea. 

"_Ha!" _Alya scoffed loudly, and Marinette gritted her teeth. 

_Some_ peace and quiet. Some. 

"Oh no," Marinette whined again, for it hadn't been the first time that morning, and she dropped one hand from her head to pick up her tea cup and bring it to her mouth. The hot tea brought a warm but short-lasting relief for her symptoms, and she licked her lips as Alya tapped rapidly on the screen of her phone. The fanatical grin on her face was enough to set of a spark of dread in the pit of Marinette's stomach. "What is it this time?" 

"Please, Marinette. You need to drink more often, look at this one-" Alya flashed the screen at Marinette, a blur of colours and shapes too close to her face for a hungover Marinette to even begin to comprehend. Marinette blinked, pushed Alya's hand back slightly, and felt terror turn her blood cold as she fully processed the picture on her best friend's cellphone. 

It was a picture of Marinette, pink-faced and eyes squinted as she grinned wickedly. She had worn a skirt over a tight jumpsuit that night, but the skirt had ridden dangerously high up her thighs as her arms slipped snug around Adrien's neck and, - _Sweet Jesus_, Marinette wanted to look away but it was like one giant train-wreck and she just couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from the picture. Adrien's face was flushed, too, and Marinette grimaced at the leg that she had very deliberately hitched over his hip. Nino's face was visible over Adrien's shoulder, the corners of his eyes crinkled from laughter as he held two thumbs up for the camera. Adrien, oh poor Adrien, smiled kindly, but his eyes were blown wide and heavy with panic, and Marinette, having decided that she had endured enough of this horrible torture, slapped Alya's hand away and burried her face into her palms. 

"How could you let me get that out of control?" Marinette whined. 

She heard Alya snort. "Come on, girl. Don't be so hard on yourself." Marinette peeked up at her. "Besides, everyone had a really good time. That's what's most important, isn't it?" 

"Could I really have had that much of a good time if I don't remember most of it?" Marinette asked. 

Alya ignored her. "Oh my God, please look at this one."

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, lips pulled down into a frown as she rubbed circles into her temples. “Please, Alya,” she pleaded through gritted teeth. “Can we just do yoga now.” 

When she opened her eyes, Alya had an eyebrow quirked, and she hid a smug smile behind her coffee cup. “We should at least wait for Nino.” 

“Nino’s coming?”

That was a surprise for Marinette. Her and Alya had been doing yoga at the university’s gym every Saturday like it was a new religious, and though they had initially tried begging Nino to join them, he had never been interested. Shunned them in favour of staying in his dorm and playing video games until Alya returned. 

Hence, that’s why Marinette’s ‘_Alya Is Up To Something’ _alarm went off. 

“Why is Nino coming?” Marinette asked again when the red-head didn’t respond to her initially. With her headache now forgotten, she slapped her hand over the screen of Alya’s mobile phone. “I thought that Nino didn’t like yoga.” 

“Oh, _Nino_ doesn’t,” Alya said, her tone non-chalant and matter-of-fact, and she peeked over her cell-phone to shoot Marinette a sly smirk. “But Nino told _me_ that Adrien told _him_ that he was interested in yoga. So, I invited Adrien, and Adrien convinced Nino to come.” 

Marinette narrowed her eyes, her dark brows furrowing. 

“You’re welcome?” Alya suggested when she received no response. 

Marinette was tempted to tell Alya where she could stick that _‘thank you’_ she was fishing for. But then again, why should Marinette be bothered if Adrien came along to yoga? After all, it was her quiet time to wind down and relax, and Adrien was _just _a friend. No more silly crushes and ridiculous pedestals - Adrien Agreste was simply a guy that she used to go to school with. 

“That’s fine,” Marinette sniffed, and she folded one leg over the other as she sipped and finished her tea. She hitched her work-out bag over her shoulder, a simple black duffel bag, as she pushed her chair back and stood. “Just - Please, Alya. No sneaky match-making attempts.” 

“As your best friend, I hold all rights to sneaky match-making,” Alya argued, and she slipped off her prescription glasses and neatly tucked them away into her glossy glasses case. “It doesn’t even have to be match-making... Technically,” She continued, and she hurried to scramble out of her seat when Marinette headed out of the gym’s cafeteria. “Nothing’s stopping you and Sweet Ole’ Mr Agreste from having a casual hook-up.” 

“Alya!” Marinette snapped, pale cheeks flushed pink. “It’s not going to happen, okay?” 

* * *

“It’s not going to happen, okay?” Adrien finally said, although, the tips of his ears were tinged pink and from the smug smirk tugging on his friend’s lips, it seemed that he hadn’t been very believable. 

“Sure, dude,” Nino chuckled, and Adrien frowned, blonde eyebrows tugging together stubbornly. “Whatever you say.” 

“Look, I appreciate it,” Adrien continued, and he really did. Marinette was a really lovely girl, beautiful and talented, and Adrien got on really well with her. He wasn’t _so_ against the idea of being romantically involved with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but he had an inkling that Nino was only trying to hook them up so he wouldn’t feel like a third wheel when spending time with him and Alya. But it didn’t bother him - not really, especially since he had been gone from Paris and his friends for so long.

”Do you really?” Nino asked him, but his tone was still light; teasing, and Adrien tried his best to resist the small eye roll that cane automatically. “Because there’s a whole lot of turning down for someone who is apparently appreciative of my match-making efforts.” 

“No match-making,” Adrien stated, and he fiddled with the strap of his work-out bag as he followed behind Nino. “Hooking me up with Marinette so I have someone to mess around with while you’re... _Occupied_. It’s not fair on Marinette; she’s a good girl-“ 

Adrien caught on his tongue, though, because as Nino shouldered open the door to the gym room, his eyes fell on the petite, raven-haired good girl, Marinette_ Dupain-Cheng. _Her and Alya were in the far corner of the room, further away from the weight machines and exercise bikes, and while Alya folded her arms over he chest and pouted childishly, Adrien found his eyes stuck to the smooth skin of the small of Marinette’s back as she stretched against the brick wall. Her right leg was planted firmly on the ground, her left pressed flat high up on the wall, and for a moment, Adrien was seriously concerned that she would damage the joints in her hips. 

Adrien had known she was flexible but this was getting a little out of hand. 

Alya waved them over when she saw them, and Adrien swallowed down a lump that had thickened in his throat. Suddenly, he felt like a young kid again, and the feeling was a little more surprising than Adrien would have liked to admit. 

“Morning boys,” Alya greeted, a light kiss on the cheek for Nino as the two boys set down their bags, and Adrien watched as Marinette lowered her leg and smiled sheepishly. “Ready to get the blood pumping?” 

“Ready to sit down and watch while you dudes get your sweat on,” Nino said, and when Alya shot him a sharp look, he added, “Joking, of course. Can’t think of anything better than sweating... At a gym... Full of other sweating people.” 

“S’Not that bad, Nino,” Adrien offered gently, and he smiled when he turned to Marinette. “Right, Marinette?” 

“Right,” Marinette answered, and although she’d avoided eye contact and spoke quietly, it was an answer none-the-less. 

“Should we do stretches? Pair up?” Alya said, and before anyone had the chance to agree (or disagree), she hooked her arm around Nino’s neck, and was already pulling him away when she declared, “Nino and me, and Marinette and Adrien. Get a good sweat on, kids!” 

Adrien watched as his best friend was towed away, choiceless, and he pressed his lips together awkwardly as he faced Marinette. “So..?” 

“Do you want help stretching?” Marinette asked him, more confidently this time, but the slight pink blush high in the apples of her cheeks hadn’t gone unnoticed. 

His mouth opened, and then closed, and when he realised Marinette was waiting patiently for his answer, he blurted, “Yes! Please. I haven’t done yoga for a while now, so flexibility is probably a bit rusty.” 

Marinette smiled sweetly and gestured for him to lie down on her matt. It was pink, and smelt weirdly of flowers and vanilla, but Adrien didn’t really mind at all. “You used to do yoga?” She asked. 

“A lot when we were in school. And even a little while after that,” he admitted, and Adrien almost jerked when Marinette’s soft fingers curled carefully around his ankle and gently pushed his knee into a ninety degree angle. “I’m more into cardio, now. Mostly weights.” 

“Oh, yeah. I realised,” Marinette commented dreamily, and she blinked after a short moment, face growing a blotchy shade of red. “Um, I mean - Sorry!” 

“It’s okay,” Adrien chuckled, and he followed Marinette’s gentle guidance as she straightened out his knee and pushed against his thigh. “I’ll take it as a compliment.” 

She appeared bashful as she carefully pushed the front of her thigh against Adrien’s calf, properly stretching out and warming up his leg muscles, before gently lowering it and moving on to the next. Marinette worked quietly, her dark brows only just pulling together, and her fingers felt like warmth, and electricity, and they were feathery light against the skin of his ankle. Her hair was tied up, long and curled and bouncy when she turned her head ever so slightly, little silver star studs glittering on her earlobes when they caught the light. 

“Your hips seem pretty flexible, Adrien,” Marinette commented as she nudged his calf a little further upright, and Adrien hardly missed the way her tongue slipped out between her pink lips as she pushed his leg closer towards his stomach. “This isn’t hurting at all, is it? Tell me if I’m stretching too far.” 

“Not at all,” he told her, and he smiled kindly at her when she slowly lowered his leg back down to the matt. “Must still have it in me, huh, Marinette?” 

“I’m sure you do,” she agreed, her blue eyes lowered to gaze at his thighs, the muscles strong and corded, in her own daydreams until Adrien shifted on the matt and rose to his knees. He did a few quad stretches on both legs, apparently satisfied when he rolled his shoulders and nodded at Marinette's handiwork. 

“Do you want me to help you finish off your stretches?” Adrien asked her, and when he lifted his palms to press against the back of his head, the muscles in his biceps flexed and rippled, his loose tank rising just enough that Marinette could spy the blonde happy trail dipping beneath the band of his gym shorts. 

"Oh, that's okay," Marinette told him, hands moving to wave in front of her. "I can just use the wall." 

"Come on, I insist." He crooked his fingers at her, motioning for her to use him how she would like, and with her lips pursed, she placed a hand on his left shoulder-blade. Adrien tried to hide the look of excitement on his face as she did a few, quick sways of her right leg - she looked like a professional gymnast, prepping her muscles before she went on stage to perform -, and he made an audible grunt of surprise when Marinette raised her leg up high by her side, and without much effort, pressed her calf against the right side of Adrien's chest. He looked up, eyes widening as he gingerly took hold of her shoe besides his head, and felt like his boxers had most _definitely _shrunken a size too small when Marinette pushed herself further against his chest. 

Marinette turned to face him, their noses almost bumping when Adrien lowered his head to look at her, and he swore that he could feel the heat radiating from her deeply flushed face. She shifted onto the toe cap of her sneakers, up and down, up and down, as she stretched out her ankle. After a short moment, she met his eyes briefly and reminded him, "You did insist." 

"I did, and I'm not regretting it." 

She smiled at that, sweet and genuine, and Adrien hadn't noticed it before - how could he not have noticed it before? - but she had small dimples at either sides of her mouth. Her eyes were half-lidded as she looked down, focusing on her ankle work for the time being, her thick eyelashes low and just barely brushing against the apples of her cheeks. Her other arm rose to press against the tip of her sneaker, and when her fingers brushed against Adrien's, she flinched; only slightly. Adrien wasn't entirely sure what it was, but a small part of him (a small part that was quickly growing into a large part of him) wanted to feel more of Marinette's skin, to feel the softness of her skin against his own, and he wondered if she'd jump, and lick her lips, and avoid his eyes in those moments too. In saying that, Adrien decided that he would _really _like to make Marinette flinch and squirm, to watch her lick her lips as she avoided his gaze, and then he'd take her chin in his fingertips and make her look at him. 

_Wait a minute. _

_Was he really fantasying about fucking her under the pretence of helping her stretch? _

"Erm, Adrien..." Marinette began slowly, awkwardly, and she was bothering her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared down at his shoulder. She wouldn't look at him, and for a brief moment, Adrien was seriously concerned that she had been able to read his thoughts. "Do you... Need a break?" 

"A break?" Adrien echoed, and when Marinette finally met his gaze, it was quick and fleeting, and her eyes flickered down between their bodies. His eyebrow was cocked, confused, when he looked down, and his breath caught as his body grew rigid. "I'm-" 

"I-It's okay!" Marinette hurried to rectify, and her movements seemed a lot more clumsy as she lowered her leg from his shoulder. She shifted to take a step back, and Adrien thought that she must have been worrying about whether or not that would offend him as she stayed put and pressed a light and reassuring hand to his shoulder. "I guess it's only normal ... When you're exercising." 

Adrien might've already wanted the earth to swallow him whole, but the fact that Marinette was trying so hard to comfort him about the fact that he'd been pressing his boner into her crotch made it all the more worse. 

“Sorry - excuse me,” he quickly fumbled to apologise, and Marinette watched with wide, dumb-founded eyes as he hurried towards the bathroom. 

He slammed the cubicle door closed, face red and hot with embarrassment as he palmed his cock through the thin fabric of his sport shorts. 

_Damn. _

Adrien could wait for it to pass, he had before. But there was something about Marinette that turned him on so undeniably and he’d gently thumbed the sensitive head of his cock before his brain had even caught up to his movements. She was so warm, and gorgeous, and so _fucking _flexible, and the fact that it was sweetheart Marinette Dupain-Cheng had his blood boiling all the more. It wasn’t right; Adrien knew that. But still, that didn’t stop him from rubbing the leaking pre-come along the underside of his cock as he groaned and pressed his forehead into the cool tile wall. 

“Shit,” he hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes rolling into his head as he jerked himself off to vivid images of sweet and caring Marinette, scantily dressed, arms up high above her head, pale breasts bouncing as he fucked into her - 

_“-Fuck!” _Adrien cursed, and he snatched for a few squares of toilet paper to empty into, hot and sticky, and not his proudest (or longest) moment in the slightest. “Oh, man,” he moaned again, breaths coming out as heavy and ragged pants as he carefully tucked himself into his boxers. 

He felt better. But much worse at the time.

His heart was pounding in his rib cage when he joined his friends back in the training room, and Adrien tried for a smile when Marinette looked up at waved awkwardly. Alya nudged her in the side, Marinette’s cheeks flushing a raging shade of red, and Adrien pleaded to any and all gods that she hadn’t been whispering about his incident. But when nothing was said and the yoga finally began, Adrien settled quietly on one of the gym’s loan yoga matts - and this time, he would keep his eyes _off _Marinette’s intoxicating body. 

* * *

Marinette wasn’t too entirely sure why her best friend had towed her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s best friend to her dorm room that evening, but when she caught a glimpse of the bag of Chinese takeaway, she decided that she didn’t really mind too much, after all. 

So they piled into the small lounge room in her two-bedroom apartment, food containers and beer bottles littered on the coffee table as Nino absent-mindedly flicked through television channels and they engaged in idle chit-chat about assessments and campus gossip. 

Marinette had learned her lesson; she’d stopped on her second beer and decided that it would be best to stay sober for the rest of the night. Alya was beyond grotesque, limbs a flailing mess as she slung an arm around Nino and the other around Adrien, and Marinette watched with an apologetic grimace as she ranted on about her Ladybug and Chat Noir theories. According to Alya, the former super-heroes ‘walk among us still.’ 

“Are they superheroes or aliens?” Nino teased, lips twisted into an amused smile as his flush-faced girlfriend pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose and stumbled to gather her next argument. 

Marinette thought it was sweet; the way Alya and Nino were so comfortable together, so completely and utterly themselves when they were together. Marinette had really only been able to be like that with one guy before, and he had disappeared years ago. She found a strange kind of longing for that feeling again. 

When Alya’s head began lolling and Nino had to pat her the top of her head soothingly to keep her from sprouting into another rant about only god-knows-what, he pulled his drunk girlfriend off the ground where she’d sprawled out and tugged her arm over his shoulders to steady her. 

“We better get going,” Nino announced finally, a little after eleven, and Marinette smiled as Alya tapped a finger against her shoulder.

“Thanks for the food, girl,” Alya said.

“You brought the food, Alya,” Marinette reminded. 

“I should leave, too,” Adrien groaned as pushed himself off the sofa, his shoulders popping when he reached his arms over his head to stretch.

”You could stay,” Alya suggested, eyebrows raising suggestively, and for a brief moment, Marinette questioned if this was even her apartment.

”Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to inconvience Marinette at all.” 

“You wouldn’t-“ Alya began. 

“You wouldn’t be an inconvience at all, Adrien,” Marinette swiftly interrupted, and she mouthed Nino a sympathetic ‘good luck’ as the two stumbled out of the apartment. “Of course you can stay. There’s a spare bedroom, and it’s pretty late outside so-“ She was rambling, and judging by the smile on Adrien’s lips, he knew she was rambling, too. 

“Thanks, Marinette. I appreciate it.” He slowly sank back onto the sofa, as if waiting for Marinette to change her mind and kick him out, but she let out a heavy breath as she sat down beside him. 

“Alya can be overbrearing sometimes,” she told him, and Adrien watched as she pulled out her hair-tie. Her black hair fell in waves, soft and shiny against her chest, and he caught the faintest waft of her vanilla scented shampoo. “But she means well.” 

“She hasn’t changed since school,” Adrien chuckled, the sound light and happy, and it warmed Marinette’s heart to hear it. “She’s great. Everyone is.” He hesitated a moment; Marinette could tell by the way his mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something. Finally, he did. “Are Ladybug and Chat Noir still around?” 

Marinette blinked. A sudden heaviness sank in her chest, and she tried for a smile as she glanced across at him, but it was weak and insincere. “No,” she answered slowly, tucking hair behind her ears subconsciously. “I guess, after...” Marinette stopped, words fumbling before they could roll off her tongue, and she snuck an apologetic glance at him. 

“You can say it,” Adrien reassured, fingers fidgeting, picking at the fabric on his jeans. “It’s okay. What my father did was wrong.” 

“I know... But, he’s still your father.” 

“He was also Hawkmoth.” This time, Adrien’s tone was curt, but not unkind. He wouldn’t look at her, but Marinette could see his bright green eyes staring at nothing. 

Gingerly, unsure, Marinette rested her palm on top of his knee, drawing soft circles into the fabric. Adrien looked at her, eyes watching hers as she smiled softly and said, “We don’t have to talk about this. We can watch a movie if you want, or play games, or -“ 

Marinette squeaked when his lips moved against hers, his warm fingers pressed against her jawbone, and Marinette felt her heart in her throat and an overwhelming dizziness in her head. 

“I’ve wanted to do that since last night,” Adrien whispered, his breath hot against her wet lips, and Marinette watched as his throat bobbed.

“But -“ She wasn’t even too sure what she wanted to say, but it didn’t matter anyway because Adrien’s mouth was hot on hers again, and Marinette was mewling as she clambered into his lap. 

Her fingers wound into his golden hair, soft and silky, and it felt so perfect against her skin. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, and Marinette gasped, moaning at the crash of electricity when his tongue met hers and his fingers dug into her hips with such a force that she was absolutely sure that he’d leave bruises the next day. Adrien’s hands slipped beneath her shirt, fingertips feather-light as he dragged them up her back, and Marinette pulled back for the briefest of moments to tug her shirt off. His eyes were half-lidded and clouded with a look that she had only ever seen in Luka in their most intimate moments, and it went straight to the wetness in her panties. 

“You’re gorgeous,” he murmured into the corner of her mouth, and Marinette’s head lolled as his lips trailed across her cheek, teeth nipping at her jawline, before he continued his hot and wet journey to suckle at the soft skin between her neck and shoulder. His palms were rough against her breasts, fingertips pinching against her pebbled nipple until Marinette cried out at the pain, and she’d only just caught the weirdly familiar shit-eating grin on his mouth before his fingers were digging into her ass and he was lifting her off the couch. 

This was _not _the same Adrien that she knew in high school, but Marinette decided that she didn’t care in the slightest. 

She hooked her ankles above the curve of his ass, holding him tight to her core as his cock strained through his jeans, and Marinette grappled to pull off Adrien's tee-shirt, mouth lowering to kiss and lick and bite at the exposed skin of his chest, hot and warm and soft, and she wanted her hands on him everywhere at the same time, to map out the veins that flared in his bicep muscles when they tensed, to pull against his solid shoulder-blades. He pressed her into the wall a little too enthusiastically, knocking the air out of her lungs momentarily, and Marinette tugged on thick patches of hair to the left of his head. 

"Bedroom," she tried to say between his relentless kisses, and although her words were muffled, she supposed that Adrien had gotten the message when he backed away from the wall and headed towards her bedroom door. 

One-night stands were not Marinette's thing. In fact, she hadn't slept with anyone during the few years after she and Luka had split up. She'd chalked it up to being busy at first - after the breakup, she'd engrossed herself completely into her studies and hadn't spent much time making new friends. Marinette knew that probably wasn't the real case; one-night stands were just not her thing. However, when Adrien dumped her on the bed and she had to throw her arms out to keep herself from bouncing off the mattress, she decided right then and there maybe she could be a little flexible when it came to a one-night stand with Adrien Agreste. She'd pined after the guy for years; the least she could do was fuck her high school crush who also (quite evidently) wanted to fuck her, too. 

Her eyes were trained on the zipper of Adrien's jeans, pink tongue curling against the inside of her upper teeth as he tugged it down roughly, and Marinette couldn't seem to care about modesty as she ground her throbbing pussy against the mattress. She was wet and needy and horny, and each moment she waited for him literally ached. And fuck, wasn't she a sight. Shirtless and braless, her breasts rosy and flushed, thighs spread and knuckles white as they gripped the bed-sheets. She wore a simple pleated skirt, and with a lust-clouded mind and no perception of shame, she lifted the skirt to her stomach and leaned back to show Adrien just how badly she wanted him. Adrien's eyes darkened at the display, and he palmed the bulge in his black briefs as he stepped out of the jeans pooled around his ankles. The mattress shifted with his weight as he climbed on, fingertips brushing against her bare thighs, dragging painfully slow through the damp cloth of her pink panties. Marinette groaned and pressed her head into the mattress, hips bucking against his fingers, and when her mind began to spin, she gripped the sheets tightly to ground herself. 

"I wanna' see how flexible you can be," Adrien told her, his index finger slipped underneath her panties to push inside of her, and Marinette arched upwards with a moan. She gripped his wrist and rutted against him, desperate for more, but when it was made clear that she'd only get more after she'd given Adrien what he wanted, she smacked his arm away. Marinette felt empty when his finger left her, and she bit down on her bottom lip at the loss of contact, but she shimmied out of her skirt and panties, and shifted off her thighs, instead spreading them to her sides, and her own fingertips lowered to circle around her sensitive bud as she bent her knees and folded her ankles above her head. 

"How's this?" Marinette asked. 

"Fuck," Adrien answered and he bent over her, mouth clashing against hers, teeth knocking in desperation and blind lust, and Marinette cried out when his finger slipped into her again, and any other time she wouldn't have minded a bit of foreplay but right now she was _aching _for him, and she decided that she couldn't wait. 

"Adrien," she whimpered, nails pressing hard into his ass to bring him closer to her, but he wasn't listening, his attention focused on her throat as he bit red patterns into her skin. In her position, she couldn't even thrust into him properly, and a small part of that could still think beyond having his cock deep inside her wondered if he had done that on purpose. "Adrien, _please_." 

"Please what, Princess?" 

Marinette would have to reconsider the awfully familiar nickname another time, because she was too drunk on him to even care. 

"Please fuck me, already." 

His lips parted, and Marinette's breath hitched as he pulled out his finger only to pull his boxers off, cock slapping against his lower stomach, the tip rosy, and red, and wet with pre-come, and they both moaned loudly when he slipped it along her folds, coating the shaft in her slick as makeshift lubricant. 

"Do we need -" 

"Don't make me ask again," Marinette warned breathlessly, her own hand snaking between her bodies to pump his cock, once, twice, before guiding him towards her wet entrance. She cried out when he finally began to sink into her, incoherent words stringing off her tongue as she stretched around him so deliciously, her palms grasping for his shoulder-blades as he rocked into her fully. 

"Fuck," Adrien muttered when he bottomed out, and Marinette lifted her arms to cling at her ankles. He mimicked her movements, his own hands pressing carefully into her calves as he fucked into her, slowly, gradually, until Marinette's hips caught up with his movements, matching his pace as he thrust into her, deep and thick, her eyes rolling into the back of her head and her fingernails drawing blood in her own skin. He lowered a hand, fingertips circling her clit, and Marinette felt like she should have been embarrassed by her high-pitched whine, but she couldn't bring herself to care as Adrien drilled into her, his free hand shifting from her calf to her waist to getter a better grasp.

"God," she moaned, and his weight was heavy against her, but Marinette hardly minded. She was torn between keeping her fingers tight against her ankles and charting every inch of Adrien's body with her hands, but her position was beginning to make her legs ache, and if she let go of her feet now, she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep it up for much longer. Adrien's thrusts quickened, and Marinette's back arched, the mattress of her bed shaking with every smack of his hips against hers, and when his cock curved _just right_ into that sweet spot of hers, she cried out loud, arms slinging tight around his shoulders. Adrien grunted against her wet skin, kisses hot against her, pussy fluttering and tightening around his cock as thrusted into the same spot, once, twice. His fingers gripped tightly around her thigh, and Marinette hardly even cared about keeping her legs locked in place anymore, too occupied chasing her high. 

"Fucking hell," he cursed, and his words sounded like sweet, sweet honey to Marinette. Adrien's thrusts were growing wild, uneven, sloppy, and Marinette couldn't tell if it was sweat or blood wetting the tips of her fingers as her nails dug into his shoulder-blades. 

"I'm gonna - _fuck_," Marinette babbled, panting, gasping, toes curling, and she felt like she could hardly breathe, but it didn't stop her from kissing Adrien when his mouth met hers, wet and open-mouthed, his teeth tugging at her bottom lip. She cried into Adrien's mouth when she came, hot and tingly, and blinded by a bright, white light, and she clenched around him, fingertips tugging at his roots as he rode through her orgasm, his own hips beginning to falter. 

He pulled out of her, and Marinette suddenly felt empty without him inside her, but she was tingling in the afterglow of her orgasm, her thighs spread wide, pressing tightly into his hips. Adrien pumped himself to finish off, muttering out curses when he emptied his come onto her stomach. "Shit," Adrien finally murmured, and he collapsed against her, his weight heavy but not enough to be uncomfortable. Sometime during her high, she was briefly aware of Adrien wiping off her stomach, and she reached out for him, their bodies hot and sticky, but he let her grab him, anyway. Marinette curled into him, their breaths heavy in the quiet room, her forehead pressed against his bicep, and before she could really process that she had fucked Adrien Agreste, fatigue had settled in her body and she slipped into the nothingness of sleep. 

* * *

marinette when adrien 'insisted' on helping her stretch: 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> booya !! lemme know what ye think :3c
> 
> look, adrien is a dom and no one can convince me otherwise. he's been controlled all his life; he's gonna wanna be in charge in da bed at least. need canon proof? look no more (season 1 - puppeteer english dub): https://data.whicdn.com/images/285819562/original.png


	3. One Night-Stand

Marinette had forgotten to close the curtains the night before, and she had only realised it when when light from the early morning sun spread across her face. She crinkled her nose in displeasure, lips twisting into a frown as she rolled onto her other side, fleeing the bright sunlight. Except, when she tried to spread her legs out wide on the mattress, her knee knocked against something solid and warm, and Marinette's entire body froze.

She cracked an eyelid slowly, and shut it quickly after.

_Oh, shit. _

She could have sworn that it was a dream - after all, it wouldn't be the first sex dream that she'd had about Adrien. If she were being honest, Marinette's dreams had been blessed with his sweet face and blonde hair since her early high school days, when she was first breaking out into puberty and learning about the inner workings of becoming a woman. But no, last night's actions were returning to her quite vividly and quite real, and Marinette could feel her heart beating heavily in her throat as she slowly risked a peek again. 

Adrien's blonde hair was messy, entirely chaotic in the way it stuck up at awkward angles and hung low on his forehead. His skin was tan, much tanner than he had been when she last saw him all those years ago, Marinette realised now that she was up close, and he had the faintest smattering of freckles on the bridge of his nose. She vaguely remembered seeing Adrien post pictures of his trip to the Maldives in the Summer a year or so back on his social media. Marinette loved his nose, for some weird and bizarre reason. It was small, cute, buttoned, and she had the odd urge to lean forward and press a soft kiss against it. But that would be weird, she decided. 

Marinette curled into herself, knees tight against her chest as she watched Adrien sleep, still naked (both, still very naked), and carefully, not wanting to risk waking him up, dragged the sheets up and over his shoulders. She hadn't remembered falling asleep underneath the sheets last night, so either she'd moved into them in her sleep, or Adrien had helped tuck her in. The latter thought had a rosy flush spreading across her cheeks. It was silly, really, considering that she'd slept with him the night before. She wasn't well-informed on the etiquette of one-night stands, so Marinette wasn't too entirely sure what to do. Was she supposed to stay in bed with him until he woke up? Or was she meant to get up? She only had Luka as a comparison, but considering that Luka had been her boyfriend and Adrien was... Well, _not _her boyfriend, it wasn't a very accurate match. 

A phone rang - not hers, Marinette didn't recognise the ringtone, so she assumed that it was Adrien's, and slammed her eyes shut again. 

She heard Adrien stir beside her, the mattress shifted beneath her, and Marinette channeled her younger self - when she was a teenager all those years ago and had to pretend to be asleep whenever her parents walked in just moments after she'd leaped through the small little porthole window in her old bedroom. She tried her best to keep her breathing steady, and although her heart was hammering hard in her rib-cage, Adrien must have bought it, because she felt the mattress shift again, and then she heard his feet touch the carpet. He scooped up his clothes (she could tell by the jingle of his jeans zipper), and she listened to him shuffle into the bathroom, his ringing phone muffled by the closed door. If she strained her ears, Marinette could probably eavesdrop on his conversation, but she was too busy frantically scrambling out of the bed. 

She stumbled to tug her skirt up her legs, and somewhere among the night's antics, she had lost her underwear. She couldn't remember where her shirt was - oh, wait, it was out in the lounge room. Instead, Marinette pulled on a short dressing gown and when she heard the bathroom door open, she spun around quickly, mouth agape as she met Adrien's eyes. 

_Busted. _

"Morning," Adrien said kindly. 

"Morning," Marinette squeaked, and she tried to smooth her hair. She stopped when she saw Adrien smile at her. "Do you... Um - Breakfast, that is?" Jesus, she wanted to smack herself. She wasn't the same love struck girl from high school - she _wasn't_. "Sorry. Do you want breakfast?"

Marinette wasn't too entirely sure on what she would have preferred as an answer. On one hand, she would have really liked Adrien to stay. After all, he had just gotten back to town yesterday after several years away, and Marinette did like Adrien, even without a childhood crush. On the other hand, she was feeling awkward and unsure on how to act around him after sleeping him last night; and without the excuse of alcohol, she couldn't blame her blind lust and desperation on anything except for herself. 

"I would really like to," Adrien started, and Marinette felt something soft and light flutter in her stomach. "But Nino actually just called me. We're supposed to be going for breakfast." He hesitated, his green eyes bright and warm, and he glanced at the small clock on Marinette's bedside table before he added, "I guess brunch, now." 

"Okay, cool. Sweet, no problems!" Marinette rambled, wringing her hands nervously, and she tucked her dark hair behind her ears without even noticing. "I had you all night. I guess it's only fair that Nino gets you for a little while." This time, it was her time to hesitate, and she inwardly cringed at herself. Marinette pursed her lips, cheeks warming as she said, "I didn't mean it like that."

"It was really nice seeing you again, Marinette," Adrien told her, his smile sweet and genuine, and Marinette wondered if it would be breaking 'one-night stand etiquette' if she tried to kiss him again. She really wanted to, but she was trying hard to come to terms with the words _one, night,_ and _stand_, and what they really meant to her. "I have missed you. I've missed all of you. Despite everything, Paris is still my home." 

For the time being, Marinette would forget about her internal ramblings, and she matched Adrien's smile with one of her own. "We missed you, too." _I missed you_. "We're glad you're home." _I'm glad you're home_. 

And Marinette walked him to the front door, dressed only in a pleated skirt and a short dressing gown, a dull but pleasant ache in the apex of her thighs, and watched him leave without another word. 

* * *

Alya screamed. _Screamed. _

So loudly that Marinette was quite genuinely worried that one of Alya's neighbours would call the police under the suspicion of a murder or other related crime. 

"Alya, not so loud!" Marinette complained, and she rested her chin in her palms as she watched her best friend shove Thai noodle salad in her mouth religiously. The redhead cocked an eyebrow, eyes wild behind the thick lenses of her glasses, and she nodded as she leaned forward in her seat. 

"Go on," Alya said around mouthfuls of food, and it made her words sound clumsy. "I want all the details." 

Marinette had already half-expected what Alya's reaction to her sleeping with Adrien would be. It was exciting, Marinette definitely wouldn't deny that, but for some reason it was embarrassing to Marinette; like she was a school girl again, telling Alya about her first kiss. Maybe it was because it had been her first one-night stand, or maybe because it was Adrien Agreste, maybe it was both; Marinette couldn't tell. But her palms were clammy and her stomach was in knots, and Marinette licked her lips as she mentally prepared herself for more of Alya's shrill screams. 

"Where do I even start?" Marinette asked. 

"Who initiated?" Alya asked as she jabbed her fork in Marinette's direction. 

Slowly, reluctantly, she admitted, "Adrien..."

Alya squealed again, eyes wide in excitement, and Marinette heard her bare feet slapping against the wooden floors. "Okay, so you _gotta _tell me what he's like in bed." 

Marinette's cheeks warmed. "No, I don't."

"Oh, you really do," she argued, an eyebrow cocked, and Marinette that there was hardly any point in arguing when Alya was in an excitable mood. She would be relentless, never stopping until she had wrenched each and every detail from Marinette. Marinette wasn't too sure why she was so embarrassed about it - she had been more than happy to divulge her intimate moments with Luka when they had first started getting serious in their relationship. Marinette bit down her the nail of her thumb, and she nodded slowly as she scooted towards the edge of her chair, as if getting as close to Alya as she could manage would somehow keep her late night rendezvous with Adrien Agreste a secret. 

"It was all pretty..." She hesitated, cheeks warming as she searched for the right word. "_Fast_." 

"Oh, Mari," Alya sighed sympathetically, and suddenly, her interest in her noodle salad had faded and she carefully pushed it to the side. "I never would have thought of Adrien as a one pump chump--" 

"No!" Marinette blurted frantically. "No, not like that. It was great - the sex was great." 

The red-head's eyebrows pulled together, and she tilted her head as she asked, "What do you mean, then?" 

"Well..." She traced patterns into the tabletop, crossing one ankle tightly over the other as she recollected the events of the night before. There really was no way of sugar-coating what she wanted to say, and no matter how much Marinette hated how vulgar the words were, she didn't know how else to put it. "It was a quick fuck. No foreplay, just... The both of just wanted, well--"

"A quick fuck?" Alya offered, and Marinette shrugged in agreement. "Holy shit, he really wanted to dick you down that bad, huh? I mean, boo on him a little, right? You've got to at least lead into the sex a little bit."

"As soon as he kissed me..." Marinette started dreamily, and she trailed off, bottom lip dragging between her teeth. 

"Okay, down, girl," Alya teased. "Save that for Adrien, alright?" 

She snapped out of her daydreams quickly, a dark eyebrow quirking as she sighed and leaned back into the chair. "Well, I don't think it'll be happening again." 

Alya appeared genuinely distressed. "What? Why?"

"It completely beats the purpose of one-night stands, doesn't it? Besides, I'm not really a one-night stand person." 

"It wouldn't be a one-night stand if you bone him again." Alya waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Marinette rolled her eyes. She snatched the leftover noodle salad, and without any protest from her best friend, began snacking. "Well, I guess it's up to me. We'll have to go out and invite the boys and then--" 

"No, Alya," Marinette told her sternly. "No. It's a Sunday night, and besides, I promised Luka that I would go watch his band play tonight." 

Alya clicked her tongue in displeasure. "Girl, please. How would you rather spend your night; watching your ex-beau play his guitar, or shacking up with your ultimate high school crush who also, quite clearly, wants to shack up with you, too?" 

"I already told you; it was a one time thing." 

Alya hesitated, lips pouted stubbornly, and Marinette watched as she leaned back in her own chair, folding her arms over her chest and drumming her short fingernails against her upper arm. "Okay, fine," she finally relented. "If it really was a one time thing, then I'm sure that you wouldn't mind if me, Nino, and Adrien came along?" 

This time, Marinette paused. "Why would I mind?" She asked casually. "I'm sure Luka would love if you came to watch him -- Just stop meddling, okay?" 

"_Meddling_?" Alya feigned offence, but Marinette could tell by the devilish glint in her hazel eyes that she wasn't offended in the slightest. In fact, knowing her, Alya had likely only been further spurred on by the accusation. "Please, Marinette. Maybe I just want to spend some quality time with the old gang." 

Marinette rolled her eyes, but she didn't press any further. She was positive that bonding with their old friend group was the farthest thing from Alya's mind, but she decided that she could handle her best friend's antics. 

It was her own antics, however, that Marinette was truly worried about. 

* * *

Luka's band played in a small beer garden in the heart of Paris. 

It was a fair trek from her university, and Marinette would have to organise a taxi to get back to her dorm later on in the night. But with the music loud and the lights low, she couldn't really bring herself to be worried about those things at the moment. 

The air was still warm, and Marinette had slipped into a pretty black dress and red pumps, and she _knew_ that she looked nice because Alya had very carefully and meticulously helped her pick it out - not for anyone else, Marinette had declared (certainly not for a particular blonde haired Agreste). She just wanted to look good, and if she could pull it off, then she was going to. 

Luka had broken away from _'Kitty Section' _when he was seventeen, and formed a new band of his own. Rose, Juleka, and Ivan had decided to disband after he left, but they bared no ill-will towards him. At least, Marinette believed. If they had, Hawkmoth had been defeated and locked away in prison for years, so there was no easy way to tell if they were truly upset by it or not. Marinette smiled and waved when she caught his eye, and Luka shot her a sly wink. 

"Remind me again why you broke up with him?" Alya asked as they sank into the soft lounges, one knee cocked over the other as she bounced her foot to the beat of the band's music. "I mean -- Just look at him." 

"Alya," Marinette sighed. 

"Dude," Nino said. "What am I? Chopped liver?"

"Only the love of my life," Alya answered, planting a quick but reassuring kiss to his cheek as her fingertips danced down his spine. After confirming that Nino was satisfied with her response, she settled her attention on Marinette. "Don't worry, Mari. I might always think that Luka's a heart-throb, but my focus is purely directed on getting Adrien to bone you again." 

"Again?" Nino repeated. 

"Please don't," Marinette pleaded. 

"Wait, I think I'm missing something," Nino continued. 

"Where is Adrien, anyway?" Alya asked, and Marinette pressed her index and middle fingers to the space between her eyebrows. She could feel tension building, and she was more than tempted to drive it away with alcohol. "He should be here -- _Ah! _There he is." 

Marinette couldn't help it. Her head turned towards Alya's pointed finger, and she felt the corners of her mouth pull down into a frown when she saw Adrien, dressed in dark blue jeans and a white dress shirt, smiling and chatting to a girl that Marinette didn't recognise. Her stomach turned unexpectedly, and she cursed her dumb heart because she was well aware of what jealousy felt like, and she was certain that it was jealously churning deep in her gut. _He isn't yours_, she told herself. _He has never been yours_. He had a beer bottle in his hand - no, wait, apple cider, upon closer inspection - and Marinette tucked hair behind her ears as she turned back to the band, eyes staring intently at Luka's fingers as he plucked at the guitar strings. 

One-night stand. One (1) night stand. Marinette had always known that. 

"Hey," Adrien greeted cheerily as he settled down besides Nino, and Marinette ignored him as she sipped from her lemon-lime and bitters. She had class the next afternoon - she didn't want to get drunk and suffer through a hangover the next morning. She tried her best to block out their conversation and shifted her undivided attention to Luka's band. If Adrien wanted her attention, then he could surely settle for the girl he had been talking to on the way in. It was petty, Marinette knew that for sure. But she couldn't help it; especially when her heart had ached when he walked in. She was stupid. She never should have slept with him. Really, Marinette should have known that this was coming. She had given herself hope. 

She stood and clapped when the band stopped for a short break, cheering along with the crowd, and when Luka turned and looked at her with that lazy smile and waved, his blue hair sticking against the slight dampness on his forehead, Marinette bit down on her bottom lip. Yeah, Alya had a point; he was pretty hot, wasn't he? She still had the sinful smile on her lips when she sat back down, palms still touching and fingers intertwined, and there must've been something going on in that head of hers, the hot air, the smoky night, or the fact that she was so _pissed _at herself _and _Adrien for a meaningless night of sex, because there was an irrational (very, _very _irrational) part of her that wanted to put out the feelers for her ex-boyfriend. To swipe the plate clean. Cover up what she'd done the night before. But that wouldn't be fair on Luka.

"Marinette?" 

She flinched and turned, and her breath caught in her throat, because sometime during her successful defiance of joining in on the conversation, Adrien had swapped seats with Alya, and he was now pressed up against her, nose bumping against hers as he smiled. Shit. 

"H-hey," Marinette started slowly, butterflies in her stomach. 

"You were really caught up in the music," Adrien commented, and he seemed so nonchalant. So casual, as if his dick hadn't been inside of her only twenty hours earlier. His green eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, and Marinette felt trapped in the best way possible. "He's pretty good, huh? Luka." 

She nodded her head leisurely, and she felt awkward and unsure around him, so she reached for her glass and took a long sip to fill the silence. Marinette decided that it was an odd feeling, sitting so casually next to the guy that she had slept with once before. She felt uneasy, not quite sure how she should act around him. After all, Adrien wasn't her boyfriend, but they couldn't _just _be friends after sleeping together, right? 

"Yeah," Marinette finally said. "Luka's amazing."

There was a sudden change then, although, Marinette couldn't exactly put her finger on _what_. Adrien's smile stayed in place, and his eyes left hers to glance across at Luka, but it was a smile that Marinette wasn't used to. A smile not entirely fake, but not completely genuine, jaw tightening slightly, and Marinette cocked an eyebrow as he absent-mindedly fingered his silver ring. 

"How's university?" Adrien asked randomly. "Fashion design, right?" 

"Fashion design," Marinette confirmed, and she shrugged as she glanced across at him. Was he fishing for a conversation start? Adrien had never been one to struggle in a lull during conversation, and Marinette wondered if he felt uncomfortable around her now. Before they'd gotten together, he had been quite content to sit quietly with her. Now, Marinette felt like he was making conversation because he felt like he _had _to. "It's good. I'm almost finished my degree, so that's exciting." 

"That's awesome, Marinette!" he exclaimed, and that was more like the Adrien she knew. She smiled, a small blush blossoming high in her cheeks. "I've always thought that you've got real talent." 

"Thank you, Adrien." 

A short silence, and Adrien shuffled beside her. "Hey, Marinette," he started slowly, carefully, his voice soft and gentle, as if he were afraid of scaring her away. Marinette's eyebrows furrowed, and she leaned further into him to hear as the music started again. "I was thinking, maybe you'd like to come back to my apartment? You know, after the show?" 

Marinette blinked, and she felt her heart jump into her throat. Was he...? He had to be, right? She told herself that she shouldn't. But despite her brain feeding her no, her mouth answered, "Sure."

* * *

Her red pumps clicked against the tiled floor of Adrien's apartment. 

It was reasonably small, quite a lot smaller than she had expected, considering the house he had grown up in. It was nice, clean, pops of green every here and there from the few potted plants he had placed around the apartment. It was much better than her university dorm, Marinette ultimately decided. 

"Nice apartment," Marinette commented as she placed her purse on one of the navy armchairs, and she turned in a slow circle, admiring the colourful artwork on the walls and the sharp _click clack _of her heels against the tiles. Adrien must have liked the sound too, because his eyes lingered on her red shoes for a long moment, until Marinette tucked one ankle behind the other and smiled. "So?" 

"So," Adrien echoed. 

"No indoor rock-climbing wall?" She teased. 

He chuckled, and the sound shot up her spine like electricity. "No," he said. "No indoor rock-climbing wall."

Marinette nodded her head slowly, pushing hair off her shoulders as her fingers danced feather-light against a glass dining table, cool to the touch, and she stopped by the unlit fireplace, smiling at the photo atop the mantle. It was a framed photograph of their first class picture, back when they were still young teenagers, before Ladybug and Chat Noir and discovered that Hawkmoth's secret identity was Gabriel Agreste, and before Adrien's life had been turned upside down. She looked over her shoulder at him, red lips pulling into a sweet smile. "Cute," she said. 

"I want to ask you something," Adrien told her softly, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She licked her lips, apprehension slowly settling in her stomach as Adrien approached her, and she looked away from him, turning instead to focus on a decorative bowl on the dining table. 

"You can ask," Marinette said, and when she felt Adrien standing behind her, she took a deep breath and turned to face him. The small of her back pressed into the edge of the table, and she trained her eyes on his throat. 

"You and Luka," he started slowly, candy green eyes fixated on hers, fingers tapping carefully on the tabletop besides her. "Do you still have a thing?" 

Marinette raised her dark brows, lips parting at the question. "Why?" She asked. 

"You said you would answer my question." 

"I only said that you could ask me a question." She met his eyes then, a silent challenge, and she felt so high on the thrill of being so close to him that it was beginning to get to her head - she felt confident and cocky, like Ladybug without the mask. Adrien, on the other hand, looked torn, as if he was unsure of how to react. His eyebrows pulled together, and Marinette couldn't keep staring into that puppy-dog expression, so she decided to put him out of his misery. "No," she finally answered, head tilting. "We don't have a thing."

Adrien leaned further towards her. "You're sure?" 

Marinette smiled. "Pretty sure, yes." 

"That's good." 

"Is it, now?" 

"Yeah," Adrien said, head nodding, and his blonde hair had begun to fall loosely over his forehead. "I don't have to feel guilty then." 

_Guilty?_ Marinette might have questioned him further, but Adrien pressed into her further, his fingers digging into the space above her hips, and she was mortified at the moan that escaped from her lips as Adrien's mouth closed over hers. She gripped onto his shirt, wrinkling the delicate fabric, as she kissed him back, and she could taste the apple cider on his lips. He hitched her onto the tabletop, his knee nudging her thighs apart so he could press between the juncture of her thighs, and Marinette thought that she should have been more worried about her dress being pushed up to her hips, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Adrien's lips sucked at the soft skin of her neck, teeth nipping at the sensitive flesh, and she let out a particularly loud whimper as his hot tongue dragged against the aggravated mark on her throat. Her fingers dipped beneath his dress-shirt, tugging and rubbing against his heated skin, her thumb brushing against his nipple, and Adrien fumbled with the zipper to his jeans. She nudged him back with her knee, and when Adrien shuffled backwards, Marinette pressed the heel of her red pump against his chest, leaning back on her elbows as she smiled at him through lowered eyelids. 

"I don't think so," Marinette told him, and Adrien looked at her innocently, pouting. She tilted her head to the side, black hair so long now that it touched the glass surface of the dining table. Carefully, she lowered her heeled foot from Adrien's chest, sitting up and adjusting her dress as she folded one knee over the other, her chin in her palm as she teased, "What's the rush, Sunshine?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hang on to ya butts!  
thanx for reading, pls leave ur thoughts  
ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡


	4. On His Command

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pure sin ahead captain

"I want you." 

Marinette smiled at that, her pink tongue sneaking out to swipe over her bottom lip. "If you want me," she began slowly, her right foot bouncing. "Then you're going to have to work for it." 

Adrien tilted his head, a confused frown twisting his lips as he watched her, blonde brows pulled together. His eyes narrowed after a short moment, green eyes seeming to glow in the light of his apartment, and Marinette watched as Adrien's tongue slipped between his lips. "You know," Adrien said, hands slipping inside the pockets of his jeans. "I don't usually have to work for sex." 

She cocked an eyebrow at that. "I don't remember you being the conceited type, Adrien." 

His eyes widened at that, sudden and fleeting, and that was the only tell-tale sign that Marinette needed to know to realise that her words had affected him. She would have taken it back, but Adrien bet her to it. 

"It's just the truth," Adrien shrugged. Still, he reached out with his hands, fingertips dancing lightly over the exposed skin on Marinette's knee. She supposed that it was the truth, after all. Not only was Adrien sweet and kind, but he was incredibly handsome and well-known around the world thanks to his early modelling career. It only made sense that he would have many girls chasing after him during his travels. It made Marinette feel uneasy, and only made her want him to work for it even harder. 

"What makes you think that I'll just let you have your way?" She asked. 

"You did last time," Adrien bit back, and Marinette might have been offended if it weren't for his teasing tone and sweet smile. 

Marinette paused to consider, and when he stepped a little too close for her liking, she raised her foot again, pressing her heel carefully into his lower tummy. Adrien raised an eyebrow, but the hint of the smirk on his mouth told her that he didn't really mind. "I consider that a test run," she told him finally. 

"Testing me out to see if you wanted a round two?" Adrien's grin was entirely sinful, a stark contrast to his usual well-behaved manner, but Marinette couldn't help the small smile that pulled at her own lips. "So you had intentions on sleeping with me again?"

She cursed the blush that spread over her cheeks. Shoving aside her nerves, Marinette quipped, "You're the one that asked me to come over, remember?" 

Adrien breathed out heavily through his nose, the cocksure grin fading from his lips, but there was a faint but definite glint of _something _in his eyes, not quite lust, but passion of some sort, and Marinette tilted her head as she watched him. She thought that she would have gotten used to his good-looks by now, blonde hair messy and shining in the light, soft lips plump and kiss swollen, and she reached an arm up to carefully brush the tips of her fingers along his jawline, his stubble rough against her skin. Adrien leaned into the touch, eyes not once faltering from hers, and when he tried to slowly push between her thighs again, Marinette let him. His movements were un-rushed this time around, deliberate as his palms pressed flat against the tops of Marinette's thighs, his skin hot and warm and soft as he slowly, painstakingly inched his hands further up her thighs. Pleased with the new pace, Marinette hooked her ankles behind the small of Adrien's back, her thumb carefully tracing the outline of his lips. She let herself arch into him, eyes watching his as his cock strained to rut against bare skin, and she bit down on her bottom lip as Adrien tossed his head back, eyes rolling shut as a hush groan slipped through his lips. 

"See?" Marinette teased, although her voice hadn't come out as she intended - a weak whine, and she might have been embarrassed if Adrien weren't already so lost in the haze of his own blind lust. "Going slow isn't so bad, is it?" 

He cocked open an eyelid to stare at her, green eyes sparkling wildly. "I'd rather just fuck you against the table." 

His words sent a chill up her spine, and Marinette dragged him even closer to her, heeled feet pushing against the swell of his ass cheeks. It was almost shocking to her, to hear such words come from Adrien's mouth; sweet Adrien Agreste that she had known ever since she was a young teenager. He had left Paris when he was only fifteen, and Marinette couldn't recall this present Adrien in his younger self for even a minute. It wasn't bad - Marinette didn't mind - she just couldn't help but be curious as to what actually happened during all those years that he was away. But still, Adrien had grown up.

Well, so had Marinette. 

She licked her lips, eyes half-lidded, and she pressed her fingertip against the tip of his nose. "I can't imagine that being very sanitary," she baited. "Don't you eat on this table?"

Adrien leaned over her, so much that Marinette had to lean back too, and the core muscles in her stomach began to ache. He fingers slid off her thighs, instead moving to press against the surface of the glass table, and amidst the cloud of desire that had settled over them, Marinette couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. They had been in a similar position before, back when they were only teenagers, and Adrien watched her with narrowed eyes and furrowed brows, his tone light but teasing as he had asked about the photographs of himself that he had seen in her bedroom. That was back when things were a little less messy, back when Adrien had no idea that she was even remotely romantically interested in him, and the most he had to worry about was arriving to his several out-of-school classes on time. At least, Marinette assumed. 

Adrien's lips ghosted against hers, just close enough that she felt the rush when his skin touched hers, but not close or long enough to qualify as a kiss. She chased after his lips, and frowned when he pulled away. 

"You think you're the only tease, Princess?" 

He slipped out from beneath her thighs, and when Marinette grasped for her shoulder blades, Adrien’s lips twitched into a lopsided smile and he held her hands against the tabletop as he dropped to his knees.

“What are you doing?” Marinette asked, her fingertips carefully threading through his blonde hair when he finally released her.

“Working for it,” Adrien told her.

Marinette’s cheeks burned a hot red as Adrien slowly dragged her panties down her legs, his fingers warm and soft and leaving her skin tingling and burning under his touch. He hooked his arms through the crooks of her knees to keep her steady, and when he tugged her closer to his face, Marinette squeaked and planted her palms firmly against the glass tabletop.

He blew a steady and hot breath against her pussy, wet and throbbing, and Marinette drew her bottom lip between her teeth as her head lolled.

“Although,” Adrien began slowly, and when Marinette glanced down at him, he was staring intently between her legs, and he quickly wet his thumb with his tongue. “Doesn’t really look like I need to work for it at all, does it, Princess?”

It was embarrassing. Marinette was embarrassed. She felt completely exposed and vulnerable to Adrien in this position, her dress bunched up at her hips with her thighs spread wide in front of his face. The air was cool against her wet skin, and she was aching, itchy, _desperate_ for Adrien’s touch, and her lips curled into a soft smile because the wait was so incredibly thrilling.

Finally, Adrien pressed his lips against her folds in a searing kiss, and a quiet moan slipped off Marinette’s tongue as she arched into him, fingers threading into the roots of his bright, blonde hair. He ran his thumb along her slit, slow and light, and then with more pressure on the way back down, his finger slipping into the warmth and wetness between her folds, and Marinette was almost entirely sure that she heard him murmur a silent curse under his breath. Adrien licked a long, hot strip, his thumb slowly sinking into her as his tongue flicked against her clit, candy green eyes flicking up briefly to gauge her reaction, and he puckered his lips and sucked.

“_Fuck_, Adrien!” Marinette cried out as she arched forward, and Adrien raised a single hand to her stomach, pressing her back against the table so he had easier access to the sweet juncture between her legs, and Marinette’s hips bucked and jumped at his ministrations. He’d done this before, Marinette was one hundred per cent certain, and although she felt an odd (and unwanted) twist of jealousy deep in her gut, she ultimately decided that his skillful use of his tongue against her throbbing clit was well worth however much practice he’d had in the past. Adrien’s grip tightened, his fingertips pressing hard enough into Marinette’s thighs that they would most definitely leave small bruises, but she found that she actually quite liked the pain, and the muscles in her abdomen were clenching and flexing as she felt the pull of a string tightening in her stomach.

“Are you gonna’ come?” Adrien murmured against her, the movement of his lips and the hot breaths enough to have Marinette’s toes curling. “I can feel you around my finger. Come, Princess.”

The string snapped, and Marinette came with a guttural cry, Adrien’s mouth still hot on her throbbing cunt to lap up her release as she rode out her orgasm. She tugged painfully hard against his hair, breaths escaping in heavy and hot pants as she slowly came down from her high, and she watched through teary eyes as Adrien rose to his feet, wiping her glistening arousal from his mouth and chin with the back of his hand.

That was a sight that Marinette would never forget.

He watched her for a long moment as she struggled to manage her frantic breathing, and she brushed her hair over her shoulders and behind her ears, dark strands sticking to the sweat that had gathered on the skin of her neck and chest.

“Have I worked enough for you, yet?” Adrien asked, his voice low and strained, and Marinette smiled lazily, eyes rolling as she tugged her dress further up her stomach and tugged it off.

“Okay, Adrien,” Marinette said, a deep breath to steady her breathing. “You can fuck me against the table now.”

Adrien's hands went to her chest first, palms cupping her breasts and lips sucking at the soft, sweaty juncture between her neck and shoulder, and Marinette's own hands scrambled to unbutton his dress-shirt and slip it off his shoulders. If he was worried about it wrinkling on the floor, he didn't show it. His chest was smooth and warm, the muscles beneath strong and hard, and Marinette watched in a lust-filled haze as Adrien rolled his shoulders back in a slow circle and unclasped her bra. He gathered her dark hair in his hands, soft fingertips brushing against the tingly skin at the back of her neck, and Marinette moved willingly at his silent commands, slipping off the table when he tugged her hair towards him. His palms were hot against her skin as they roamed down her sides, pressed against her stomach, and Marinette hiccuped back a gasp when one hand slipped between her bare legs. 

Hot, against her ear, Adrien said, "Turn around." 

Marinette did, palms pressing into the glass tabletop, still warm from where she had been sitting only moments earlier, and she looked over her shoulder, eyelashes low on the apples of her cheeks as she watched Adrien popped open the button to his jeans. She curved her spine inwards, her ass pressing into the hard bulge in his tight boxer briefs, and she relished in the sound of his harsh groan as Adrien rubbed against her, one arm moving around to circle around her, his palm pressing into the glass besides her own. 

"Condom?" Adrien asked; a single word, but Marinette knew what he was asking anyway. 

She shook her head, head thrown back against his shoulder as his fingertips slipped between her wet folds, teasing her. "Up to you," Marinette told him. "I'm on the pill." 

Marinette bit down on her bottom lip as Adrien slid his cock against her inner thigh, pre-come smearing against her skin, but she was too enthralled by his closeness to her needy cunt to care. A soft kiss to her cheek (Marinette almost jumped at the gesture) and Adrien was pressing his cock into her, slowly, inch by inch, and Marinette would have pressed back against him if he didn't have a hand pressing against the small of her back to keep her steady. He stretched her out so nicely, a lovely ache settling between her thighs as he bottomed out, and Marinette bent further into the glass tabletop. 

"God, you feel so good," Adrien groaned quietly, and the praise had her pussy fluttering, lips parting for a whiny moan to slip through. 

Adrien pulled out of her almost entirely, just enough so the head of his cock was still inside her, and his fingers spread into her silky, black hair as he thrust into her, again, and again, until he was panting hot and heavily against her back. 

The cold of the glass stung against Marinette’s pebbled nipples as she pressed her chest against the tabletop, only for a short moment until her body heat warmed the surface, and she felt like she should have been more embarrassed of the sounds of her slick body slipping against the glass. She tried to curl her fingers into the table, but with nothing to grip onto, her nails dug into the soft flesh of her palms. Marinette felt full - so incredibly stuffed, and it was a dizzying, overwhelming feeling that she couldn’t get enough of, and before she knew it she was babbling Adrien’s name like a manta.

“_Fu—mph_,” she slurred, hot tears pooling in the corners of her eyes as she squeezed them shut. “M—more!”

“_More_?” Adrien echoed, and although he spoke through heavy and laboured breaths, Marinette couldn’t miss the hint of disbelief in his voice. “You want more?”

“Yes, yes, _yes_,” Marinette chanted, breaths wheezing with every steady thrust, and she could feel something deep inside her belly coiling, tightening, but his stable pace wasn’t going to get her to the edge fast enough. “I can handle it.”

“Fuck. You want to come again that bad?”

“God, yes!” She moaned, and she was almost - _almost_ ashamed - of her own lewdness. “Please, Adrien. Make me come.”

Marinette felt him coil her hair tightly around his hand, and she looked up towards the ceiling, throat open and bare for Adrien as he kissed and sucked and bit down on her salty skin.

His breath was scorching hot against her flesh as he murmured, “Your wish is my command, Princess.”

He set a brutal pace, pounding into her hard and rough and deep, and Marinette struggled to get the choked cry out of her throat as he knocked the breath from out of her lungs. Adrien’s hands pushed firmly against her hips to keep her in place as he fucked into her, fingers digging deep into her skin as his forehead pressed between her shoulder blades. Marinette was wholly and unconditionally drowned by him - his scent, his touch, his breaths, the feel of him fucking into her brutally. He peppered light kisses against her shoulder blades, whispering words that Marinette might have been able to hear if she weren’t made deafened by the loud thumping of blood in her ears. Whether intentionally or not, Adrien’s cock angled upwards, and Marinette choked on a scream as he hit that sweet bundle of spongy nerves, once, twice —

Her eyes rolled back into her head as she came with a loud cry, cunt fluttering and squeezing, and her cheek dragged against the glass table as Adrien fucked into her, pants harsh, and Marinette’s eyes widened as she felt him come inside her, painting her insides white. He pulled out of her suddenly, but not fast enough, and she felt his raspy breaths against her damp skin.

“Shit,” Adrien panted, his hand gentle as he carefully brushed black hair off the side of her face. “Sorry, Marinette, I —“

“It’s fine,” she intercepted, her own breaths just as ragged. “It’s fine, just — Sorry, can you hold me? I think my knees are going to collapse.”

“Y-yeah.” Her head pounded and her body tingled everywhere, her cunt raw but entirely satisfied, and she didn’t care in the slightest that her skin stuck to Adrien’s when he scooped her gently into his arms and set her down on his couch. “I’ll get you some water,” Adrien told her, and then he was out of sight.

Marinette raked her fingers through her hair, gathering it up from where it had stuck to the back of neck, and she smiled gratefully when Adrien finally returned with a glass of water. She guzzled at it, not caring when it spilled from her lips and trickled down her neck, and when she was done, she passed it back to Adrien, who finished the rest with a loud pant.

“You okay?” He asked, those green eyes so bright and innocent, that it actually made Marinette choke out a short laugh. Adrien’s eyebrows furrowed.

“I’m good,” Marinette answered when she finally caught her breath, and she sighed as she leaned back into the soft sofa. She hesitated, blue eyes pleading as she smiled sheepishly. “I could really do with a shower, though?”

* * *

Adrien lent her some clothes to wear after she showered - a faded Jagged Stone tee-shirt and some sports shorts - and her cheeks flushed the faintest shade of pink as she burrowed her nose into the fabric and basked in the smell of him. She toweled her damp hair as she left the bathroom, fresh and clean and warm, and she stopped by the end of Adrien's bed. He had put his pants back on, but his chest was still bare, and Marinette found that she struggled to keep her eyes on his face. 

"I might jump in the shower, too," Adrien told her, and when he held out his hand to take her towel, Marinette quietly passed it over to him. 

She nodded slowly, awkwardly, a small smile on her mouth as she said, "Okay. I'll head out, then?" 

He shot her an odd look, an eyebrow cocked, and the corners of his lips tipped up into a lopsided smile. "You're not going to stay the night?" 

"I..." Marinette began, pink highlighting the apples of her cheeks. "I don't know?" 

"It's late. You can head off in the morning," Adrien answered for her, and he slung Marinette's used towel over his shoulder as he headed towards the bathroom. He looked over his shoulder before closing the door, gesturing towards his bed. "Make yourself comfortable." 

And then he closed the bathroom door, and Marinette heard the spurt of the shower sputtering to life. 

Marinette pursed her lips as she looked over at Adrien's bed, a double size at the most, which she found odd - since her own university housing had provided her with a queen size. She slowly crawled under the sheets, a deep shade of crimson, and pulled them up to her chin. The bed smelt of Adrien, like warmth and (strangely) coffee, and she curled her feet into the mattress as she rolled onto her side. He had a photograph of his mother and him on the bedside table, back when she was still alive and when he was young and carefree, and Marinette smiled as she carefully traced a fingertip over his innocent smile. She realised, with a small frown, that Adrien had no pictures of his father, though. And there was a small part of her, a part of her that Marinette _knew _wasn't telling the truth, that she was to blame for that. After all, it had been her and Chat Noir that defeated Hawkmoth and exposed his true identity as Gabriel Agreste. Adrien hadn't been to school for a week after that. They had never found Mayura - only the peacock miraculous where it sat on a pile of papers in Gabriel's office. Gabriel had never confessed the identity of his partner. Of course, as the only two leads, the local police interviewed both Nathalie and the Gorilla, but with no evidence, the investigation was closed. Marinette had been slightly relieved when she had found out - the last thing Adrien needed was to lose two more parental figures. 

Marinette wondered if Adrien resented Ladybug, even just a little bit. 

When she heard the squeak of the shower dying, Marinette tensed, a short glance over her shoulder at the closed door before she buried her head back into the pillow. She thought that she could hear hushed whispered from inside the bathroom, and it made her wonder if she wasn't the only one Adrien called for 'one-night stands' - if it could even be called that, anymore. It stirred something horrible deep in her gut, and she brought her knees to her stomach, folding in on herself. Marinette closed her eyes - _sleep, sleep, sleep_. A burst of warmth clouded in the room when Adrien opened the bathroom door, and she listened quietly as he flicked off the light switch, the mattress dipping beside her as he climbed into the bed. She could feel his heat behind her, his body _so _painfully close to hers that it made her heart throb. 

"You okay?" Adrien whispered, and she felt him adjusting the sheets over her, ensuring she had enough blankets to keep her warm throughout the night. 

Marinette squeezed her eyes closed even harder. 

"Mhm," Marinette murmured back, faking being more tired than she really was. 

Adrien didn't say anything after that. She felt him shift around on the mattress as he got comfortable, and then there was just stillness, and the soft, laboured inhale and exhale of his breaths. She could smell his shampoo, his soap - even the smell of the toothpaste he had used when he'd brushed his teeth in the shower. 

Sex. It's _only _sex. 

_Fuck. _

Marinette had re-fallen in love with Adrien Agreste, if she had ever fallen out in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shit who put this angst in my porn??? coulda put more in this chapter but decided against stretchin it out
> 
> pls kudos & comment -- love to hear ur opinionzz  
ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♥ ♥ ♥


	5. His Tommy Hilfiger Windbreaker

Marinette woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed; warm and cozy in a bed that was much smaller than she was used to, and held one more person than she was used to. 

Adrien was already awake - she could tell from the faint blue light of his cellphone screen above her head, and Marinette ultimately released that he was spooning her into his large body, his mobile above her head. She craned her neck to look over her shoulder, and she could feel the heavy _thud, thud, thud _of her heart in her chest when Adrien smiled at her. He closed his phone off, reaching behind him to place it onto the bedside table before he lifted his other arm off Marinette's waist so she could roll onto her other side to face him. 

"Morning, Marinette," Adrien said innocently, as if he hadn't positively _rawed _her the night before. 

"_G'Ning_," Marinette slurred, voice still slow and groggy with sleep, and she cleared her throat before she tried again. "Morning. When did you wake up?" 

"Not too long ago," he admitted, his hand burrowing underneath his pillow, and Marinette's eyes flicked to the solid muscles as they tensed in his upper arm. "I wanted to lay in with you for a little while longer, though." 

She felt her cheeks burn, and she hoped that it didn't show. 

"Are you hungry?" Adrien continued, and when he sat up on the mattress, Marinette realised that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip as she stared, and she felt a weird sense of loss when Adrien slipped out from beneath the sheets and left the bed. "I'll make you some breakfast." 

Marinette rubbed at her eyes as she sat up, warm and comfortable in Adrien's clothes, and she was utterly enveloped in the smell of him. "What's the time?" She asked. 

“A little after eleven,” Adrien said, fidgeting with the cellphone in his hand, and Marinette let out an audible groan as she dug her fingers into the roots of her black hair.

“I’ve got class at twelve, I should go.”

“You can’t stay for breakfast?” He asked, and there was something so raw and sincere in the way he spoke; bordering a sense of nervousness, as if he had asked Marinette out on a date and she’d turned him down. “Come on. Some toast, at the least? You always used to feed me back when we were teenagers. How could I let you leave without knowing you’ve had something to eat?”

It was charming - but then again, Adrien Agreste was always charming.

She couldn’t help the smile that spread over her lips, and she tucked hair behind her ears, messy and sticking up in places, but Adrien was looking at her so tenderly that she didn’t really care.

“Okay,” Marinette finally agreed. “Just some toast.”

Adrien's face lit with childlike glee, and when he nodded, his blonde hair swept across his forehead; so soft and growing so long that Marinette was tempted to crawl to the edge of the bed and push the hair away from his face so she had a good view of his candy green eyes. When he left the room, Marinette followed him, slipping out of the bed quietly and feeling a sense of giddiness as she sat down on the glass dining table (a few seats away from where she had been bent over last night). She felt warm in Adrien's clothes, comfortable and content, and she had half a mind to wear them back to her campus and never return them. 

"Ah--" Adrien began, shooting a sheepish smile in her direction as he shifted his weight back and poked his head out of the pantry. "I've only got apricot jam. That okay?"

"Apricot jam is perfect," Marinette said. He elbowed the pantry door closed, loaf of bread tucked in the crook of his arm and the container of jam in his hand, and Marinette rested her chin in her open palms as she watched him. She wondered if this was how it always went, back when Adrien travelled around Europe and met the pretty women that Marinette would occasionally see on his Instagram pictures. She knew that she was making assumptions (fairly reasonable assumptions, however), but the idea of Adrien sleeping around with other women didn't sit well with her. Not because she didn't agree with those kinds of relationships - Marinette wasn't at all bothered by people who enjoyed spending evenings with a new person every couple of nights. It was the fact that _she _could very well be one of those many women that Adrien had seduced and slept with... As a matter of fact, Adrien had never really _seduced _Marinette - he had only kissed her that time in her apartment, and he hadn't even needed to seduce her. It was just that easy. _She _was just that easy. Marinette bit down on her bottom lip. She wondered if Adrien thought that she was the kind of girl to put out easily - because she wasn't! Marinette just really, _really _liked Adrien, and he'd presented himself to her on a silver platter. 

"_Hello?" _Adrien cooed, waving a hand in front of her face, and Marinette blinked three times before her brain eventually returned to the present. "I remember you always used to space out back at school," he continued with a soft smile as he sat down, and she hadn't even realised that he'd placed a plate of toast in front of her until he nodded towards it. "Do you remember? You used to fall asleep in class all the time, too."

"Yeah," Marinette chuckled lightly, and she stared down at the orange-coloured jam as she brought the toast to her lips. 

"What did you do all night to make yourself so tired?"

Suited up as super-heroine Ladybug to patrol Paris and fight akuma with her super-hero partner, Chat Noir.

"Video-games," Marinette lied. 

Adrien laughed. "Yeah, you were always good at those. We should play again, some time." 

Marinette blinked, and she'd paused munching on her apricot jam toast to look at him. He blinked at her, eyebrows raised as he chewed on his own breakfast. She wasn't sure if that was just Adrien being Adrien - friendly and making conversation - or if he really did want to spend more time with her, un-related to sex. After all, that was what it had been about, right? Sure, her and Adrien were friends, but they had never really hung out together on their own before _this _started. 

"We should," she agreed, a shy smile as she licked jam from her lips. "I hope you at least practiced your Ultimate Mecha Strike two skills while you were away."

Adrien shot her a dopey, toothy grin that had her heart fluttering, and she didn't miss the swipe of his tongue against his lips before he proclaimed, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the day we play Ultimate Mecha Strike two again is the day I reign as champion."

She rolled her eyes (it came natural to her and she couldn't help it), but if Adrien was at all offended by the gesture, it didn't show on his face. "Okay, Agreste," she said, a dark eyebrow cocked as she looked at him, and she decided that she really liked this; talking with Adrien, joking with him - being _normal _with him. "You're on."

* * *

Marinette had left shortly after breakfast. 

Adrien had insisted on her borrowing some of his clothes to go back to campus in, but in true Marinette Dupain-Cheng fashion, she had politely declined and had stepped into his bathroom to change back into the little black dress and red heels that she had worn the night before. Adrien decided that he liked her outfit; in fact, he _really _liked her outfit, and he ultimately concluded that there would be many other people that would also like her outfit when they saw her walking back to the campus dorms. At that, Adrien had shoved a black cardigan into her hands. It wasn't necessarily cold, but he had insisted that she borrow it until she had the chance to get home and change clothes. 

He wouldn't admit, however, that the idea of other people checking Marinette out in her pretty little dress left a bitter churning in his gut. Adrien wished that he could drive her back to her university, but he didn't have a car and he had a pressing appointment, so he had to settle for calling her a taxi and sending her on her way. 

And so, there he stood, in the middle of the foyer of the Agreste manor, his childhood home that didn't really feel like a childhood at all. It seemed empty; emptier than how Adrien had remembered it the day he had left Paris to go live with the Graham de Vanily's, aunt Amelie and cousin Felix. The manor had been virtually untouched since then, all those years ago, and although white sheets had been thrown over the furniture and the house had been empty, it remained impeccably clean. Adrien ran a fingertip along the marble banister, and not a speck of dust rubbed off on his skin. He could hear the click clack of the real estate broker's heels against the floor, a quick survey of the house to ensure that everything was in tip top shape, and Adrien shot a quick glance over his shoulder at her before he quietly stepped into his father's old office. 

It had been a crime scene once, and even Adrien - the son of Gabriel Agreste, of _Hawkmoth - _hadn't been allowed inside the room. He had been allowed to as Chat Noir, but after he and Ladybug had actually defeated the villain, he couldn't find it in himself to step into the room again. He left that up to Ladybug, and made a round-about excuse to go in search of Adrien Agreste and make sure that he was okay. But that was years ago, and Adrien was older now, and he was standing in front of the portrait of his mother, eyes searching hers for answers that he would never get. Below his feet was the other room, the _lair, _and Adrien swallowed a thick lump in his throat as he took a large step to the side. He had never really been allowed in his father's office when he was young, and he had never really known why. His father had trusted him enough with the Gabriel fashion line, so he never really thought that it was because he would be a distraction to his work. Eventually, Adrien assumed it was just _him; _his father just didn't want _him_ in the room. Well, it was partly true. 

"Mr Agreste?" The real estate agent called, and Adrien jumped and marched out of the room as if he wasn't allowed to be there. He was, of course - the estate was his now. 

"Just Adrien is fine," he corrected kindly, a warm smile that had once felt so natural when he was a teenager, but was now beginning to feel more and more forced the longer he spent in the house. 

"Adrien," she echoed, a faint blush high in her cheeks. Her ruby-painted lips matched the red of her uniform, and Adrien couldn't help the quick sweep of his eyes. Red was his favourite colour. "You're still sure on your decision? Would you like to have another look upstairs to--" 

"I'm set on my decision," Adrien interrupted, not to be rude, but because the large house was beginning to make him feel claustrophobic and he wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. 

She furrowed her eyebrows, and it was a look that Adrien was all too familiar with. His father had turned out to be Hawkmoth; when that had been revealed, there had been no end to the looks of pity. "Are you sure?" 

With a kind smile, he said, "I'm sure." 

The real estate agent rolled her lips together, and she nodded. "Alright then," she confirmed, and Adrien watched as she tapped some notes onto her tablet. "I'll get the paperwork sorted and we'll have the house up for sale soon." Her heels click, click, clicked against the floor as she left the foyer, and Adrien decided that he didn't even want to have one final look around before he left. 

From inside the pocket of his Tommy Hilfiger windbreaker, a small, nasally voice asked quietly, "You really sure about this, kid?"

Adrien swallowed. "I am."

* * *

Marinette had a strawberry-shaped pin cushion between her lips when Alya strutted into her dorm and plucked it out of her mouth. 

"Come on in," Marinette said, eyes never straying from her assignment piece as she carefully pinned fabrics into place. "The door wasn't closed to keep people out or anything."

"You boned him again, didn't you?" Alya exclaimed. 

"Boned?" She repeated, an eyebrow raised as she snatched the pin cushion back. "Really?"

"Don't deflect. I _need _to hear everything." 

"You don't need to hear everything, you want to hear everything. And besides, what happened between Adrien and me should remain between Adrien and me." 

Marinette didn't look back at her, but Alya's speechlessness was a sure sign that she was not happy with the answer. 

"Um, _bitch?" _Alya said, incredulous, and Marinette smiled as she rolled her eyes. "I am your best friend. As best friends, nothing that happens in our private lives is secret. Especially when that revolves around you boning Adrien Agreste - _again._" 

This time, Marinette did look back, an amused smile dancing on her lips. Alya had her hands on her hips, and she glared down at Marinette through her thick spectacles, an eyebrow cocked as she waited for the answer she wanted. She twisted around on her stool, black hair bouncing in its ponytail, and in that moment she was thankful for the old tee-shirt she wore to cover up the bites and hickies that Adrien had left scattered along her collarbones and the fleshy skin between her shoulder and her neck. Alya would've had a field day at that. "You already know that we slept together," Marinette finally said. "What else is there to know?"

_"Everything_," Alya answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and she crouched down so they were eye-level. "This is exciting, Marinette. You're sleeping with the guy you've been pining after for years." 

"But that's just it, isn't it? I'm just sleeping with him," Marinette reminded, and she set the fabrics and pin cushion aside, pressing a palm against the her cheek as she sighed. "I've always liked Adrien for more than just his looks, and I certainly wasn't interested in just sex when we were teenagers. I liked him for _him__, _for his personality, Alya." 

Alya frowned, and her shoulders slumped as she began to say, "I'm sorry, Mari--" 

"It's okay, I'm not angry at your or anything. Just at myself." She pressed her knees together, fingers entwining in her lap as she tossed her head back and groaned. "It feels so good being with him, Alya. But I want more than just friends with benefits or casual hook-ups, or whatever it is that we're doing. I thought I was over him - I really did!" Marinette exclaimed, because it was true. When Adrien had left Paris all those years ago, she still loved him, but he had a budding relationship with Kagami, and Marinette had started spending more time with Luka. And it was true, once she'd started dating Luka, she really had thought she had gotten over Adrien. "Everything just... Came rushing back, you know? My feelings for him never went away, and now I just want him even more." 

Quietly, Alya asked, "What makes you think that he doesn't want the same?" 

"Well, he hasn't really done anything to make me think that he wants more."

"He's slept with you more than once - that usually constitutes as something more?" 

Marinette shot her a cynical smile. "I'm probably the only _friend _that he's slept with. Maybe he just realised how much he likes the idea of friends with benefits?" She stopped to take a deep and steadying breath, and she fixed Alya with a serious stare as she said, "That's it. I'm not sleeping with him anymore. That's over." 

Her mobile buzzed beside her, as if fate were laughing at her, as Marinette puckered her lips as Adrien's name slid onto the screen. 

**ADRIEN: ** _Hey, it's Adrien. You free tonight?_

Alya cocked an eyebrow. "You gonna answer that?" 

Marinette huffed. "I'm going to say no. I've got to get a wriggle on with my assignments, and--" 

Another buzz, and Alya scoffed. 

**ADRIEN: ** _I could really use some company. _

Marinette sighed. "I'm weak. I'm a weak person." 

Alya patted her back soothingly. "It's okay, Mari. No judgments here."

Marinette didn't consider herself to be the kind of girl that would let her world get swallowed up by a boy, but here she was.

The fourth night in a row that she would be spending with Adrien _goddamn_ Agreste.

* * *

me when marinette realises she's weak for adrien agreste:

thaNKs for reading loveya pls leave ur thoughts xoxx


	6. To Stay in That Moment

Marinette would admit that she was a little surprised when instead of inviting her over to his apartment, Adrien had asked her to meet him at the arcade that their friend group had used to go to all the time when they were kids. The evening air was cool, but not cold, so Marinette wore the cardigan Adrien had lent her over a simple day dress - that way she could return the cardigan when they parted ways for the night. 

Adrien was already waiting outside the arcade by the time she got there, hair slightly ruffled by the light breeze and his hands stuffed into the pockets of his windbreaker. He looked up at her, as if sensing her approach, and smiled brightly when Marinette offered him a shy wave. 

"Hey," he greeted. 

"Hey," Marinette copied, and then with a small smile, "Haven't seen you in a while." 

His smile widened, and in the dimming sunlight, Marinette was almost positive that a faint blush spread across his cheeks. 

"Are you getting tired of met yet?" Adrien asked her, and although his tone had been light and teasing, Marinette shook her head firmly. 

"Of course not," she told him. "I could never tire of you, Adrien."

His chest puffed at that, as if he were proud to hear the words come from her mouth, and he moved one hand from the pocket of his jacket to press softly against the small of her back. She could feel the heat from the soft touch even through the cardigan, and she drew her bottom lip between her teeth as her stomach flipped. She thought it was quite girlish of her in all honesty - getting so excited over an innocent touch when he'd fucked her against his dining table the night before. 

Adrien seemed... _different, _compared to his usual self. It wasn't really a bad thing, and he wasn't in a sour mood or anything like that, but Marinette could just pick up a slight hint in the air that something was a little off. She thought back to his text message to her, how he could _'use some company,' _and if was something as innocent and platonic as playing some games together at an arcade, wouldn't he have asked Nino instead? It was Adrien's best friend after all. She was tempted to ask him about it, but a small niggling, bothering voice in her head told her to keep quiet. After all, what if it was about her? What if he was calling her out for completely platonic activities to hint that he viewed her as a completely platonic friend? She shook the thought out of her head - she didn't want to think about it. For now, she would push aside the incessant voices and enjoy spending some time with Adrien. 

"How was your class?" Adrien asked her absentmindedly, and she blinked as she look up at him, warm hand against her back as he held the arcade door for her. It was noisy inside, with kids and adults alike piled in together to spend the evening playing games with their friends and families. 

She had to press closer into him so he could hear her. "Good!" Marinette told him, nodding contently. "I got a good head-start on one of my assignments, so I'm pretty stoked about that." She paused when they came to the counter, and Adrien fished out his wallet. "How much should I put in?" 

"Put in?" Adrien echoed as he carded through his dollar notes. 

A slight tilt of her head as she answered, "For the game card?" 

He shot her another one of those weird, incredulous looks, like the one she had received the night before when she had suggested leaving. A blonde eyebrow raising as he smiled kindly and said, "I'll pay for it, don't worry."

Her fingers gripped onto the sleeve of his windbreaker unconsciously. "Are you sure? I don't mind paying."

Adrien handed over a bill (Marinette couldn't see how much) and gently flicked her forehead with his index finger. She pouted and rubbed the space as if it had actually hurt. "I'm sure," he told her. "Besides, if I'm taking you out on a date, I want to be able to buy you stuff."

With just three steps he was already a fair distance away, and Marinette blinked as she stared into his back. Wait, a date?

_"U-um!"_ Marinette fumbled over her words, her face a bright shade of red, and the pounding of her heart in her chest was beginning to hurt. She caught up to him, head tilted towards her feet as she trailed shyly besides him. 

"What do you want to play first?" Adrien asked her, his hand moving to the front of her face so he could wave the orange game card. 

"You pick," she answered meekly, and she wanted to _kick _herself. Jesus, she had been more confident around him when she was butt-naked and he was plowing into her. "You payed, so it's only fair." 

He kept his eyes on her as he considered her answer, and finally he nodded, pushing his shoulders back to stretch out his chest. "Wanna shoot some hoops?" Adrien asked, and Marinette could recall the faint memory of seeing a basketball hoop in his bedroom when he was young. She wondered if it was a hobby of his. 

"Sure." Marinette smiled, and she brushed her hair behind her ears and over her shoulders as Adrien swiped the orange card along the sensor between two basketball arcade systems, six basketballs each tumbling down the multi-coloured inclines towards them. Marinette was _okay _at basketball, although she was out of practice. It was all a matter of getting the aim, distance, and throw right - something she accomplished easily when she was Ladybug. They started on the count of five, and while Adrien made the first shot, Marinette missed. She was a little rusty. 

She glanced across at Adrien, and although his eyes were hard and focused on his target, his lips were spread into a soft, genuine smile, and Marinette couldn't help but find it contagious. He hadn't often been allowed to do these sorts of things a lot as a young teenager and Marinette had always felt for him. Adrien had been quite open about it when they were kids, admitting that when he wasn't working as a model for his father's label, he was often forced into extra-curricula activities like fencing, piano, and other glasses that Adrien's father thought was fitting for a '_young gentleman.' _Often, spending out with his friends and playing video games wasn't considered gentleman-ly. 

Marinette shot again and it slipped through the basket, again, and again, and soon enough she was rapidly catching up to Adrien's score and he was glancing across at her as they made successful shot after shot. He pressed the toe of his shoe against her kneecap to try and distract her, but Marinette only snorted at his lame tactics and shoved at his shoulder. 

"You're not going to let me win?" Adrien asked with mirth. 

"Why would I?" Marinette quipped. 

"Aren't you supposed to let the guy win on a date?" 

There it was again: _date. _

Marinette's heart skipped a beat, but she swallowed hard and said, "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" 

When the basketballs finally stopped rolling down the incline and the timer ran out, Adrien had a higher score than Marinette, and she rolled her eyes when he turned to her and buffed his knuckles against his chest. "Pretty good, right?"

She tried hard not to smile, but it came anyway. "Oh, yeah. I'm real impressed."

Marinette paused, her bottom lip rolling between her teeth so she could chew on the soft skin nervously, and she was about to ask Adrien if this really was a date when a group of laughing teenage girls stumbled out of one of the photo booths. They were still in their school uniforms and carried their bags around with them, and Marinette smiled as they gathered around to giggle and joke about the photos they had taken.

“Want to take some?” Adrien asked her, and Marinette blinked as she looked up at him. “Photos, I mean,” he clarified, as if Marinette hadn’t understood his question.

“Yeah,” Marinette said. “Let’s take some.”

His smile was bright and dazzling and boyish, and his hand was warm on her skin when he took hold of her wrist and all but dragged her into one of the booths. It was a little cramped, and Adrien slung an arm over her shoulders to pull her flush against his side. Her eyes were blown wide when she saw herself on the screen, but Adrien’s were soft, the corners of his eyes only just creased with smile lines.

“You’re acting as if you’ve never taken photos in a photo booth before,” Marinette said softly, fingers pressing into the soft flesh of her thighs as Adrien hugged her close.

“I haven’t,” Adrien admitted, but his smile never once faltered.

Marinette thought that he was too damn good for the world.

She showed him the gist of working the machine, pointing to the different settings and explaining them, and she sat quietly and contently as she let Adrien pick out the layouts and filters. Marinette would admit that it was nice being with Adrien as he experienced new things, and the delighted expressions on his face made her heart feel warm and so impossibly light.

“Ready to go?” Marinette asked when Adrien finally settled backwards, and he nodded as the five second timer began its countdown. She smiled sweetly, tucking her hair behind her ear, but when the first filter eventually popped onto the screen ahead of them, Marinette deadpanned. Large, red clown noses and comical grins hovered over their natural features, rainbow-coloured afros sitting atop their heads.

With three seconds left on the countdown, Adrien pressed his thumbs into the corners of her lips and pulled her mouth into a smile. She laughed after the flash, swatting Adrien’s hands away from her face, and she followed his lead as he held up cheesy peace signs. Another flash, and Marinette stuck her tongue out at the camera as Adrien pressed his cheek snug against her own and grinned widely. On their final picture, Marinette closed her eyes and smiled. Although, when she felt the familiar heat of Adrien’s lips against the apple of her cheek, her eyes blinked open and her face flushed a pretty shade of pink. He pulled away without a word, and Marinette pressed the back of her palms to her hot cheeks as Adrien picked up the strip of photographs.

Her heart in her throat, Marinette asked, “_H_-hey, Adrien?”

Adrien looked up at her, a soft but genuine smile on his lips, and she realised that his arm was still slung comfortably over her shoulders when she felt his finger twitch against her collarbone.

“Hm?”

“Is this really a date?”

He paused then, lips parted slightly, and he rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away - something that Marinette remembered him doing as a teenager as well. She supposed that some things really didn’t change, after all.

“I...” Adrien began, and then he swallowed and tried again. “I would like it to be,” he admitted finally, carefully, as if he were worried about scaring her off. “I don’t really know how to say this without coming across as an asshole, but I don’t really know if I saw you as anything more than a friend when we were in school.”

Although Marinette had known that, it still stung to hear it from him.

“No, that’s not really right. I just... It’s weird - You _always_ felt special to me,” Adrien pressed on, and when his eyes moved to hers, so green and bright, Marinette had to look away. “And when I came back and thought that you and Luka were still together, it just felt - I just felt... I don’t know. I’m sorry, I’m not making sense.”

Marinette’s eyes were on her shoes when she said, “It’s okay.”

“Please don’t be mad at me,” Adrien told her quietly, weakly; and Marinette looked up to meet his gaze. “I wanted you to myself. I mean... When I saw you after so long, it was just; I just felt something. And it’s more than just sex or sexual desire, I mean like, I _like_ having sex with you and you’re gorgeous—“

Marinette’s heart skipped a beat.

“But it’s more than that. And you don’t have to feel the same, but I think I like you, Marinette; and I would really like to get to know you better.”

She pinched herself - actually _pinched_ herself - because surely she was dreaming; her high school crush confessing to her? It all felt surreal, and Marinette felt mortified because her eyes were stinging and she was on the verge of tears, and Adrien must’ve known that because he placed a gentle hand on her knee.

“Marinette?” He asked carefully.

“I like you, too,” Marinette finally said, her voice was soft and fragile. Adrien’s shoulders visibly relaxed, and Marinette’s fingertips brushed against his jawline as her nose bumped against his. He chuckled, and Marinette giggled, and she closed her eyes as Adrien pressed a warm kiss to the corner of her mouth, lingering at that space for a long moment before finally capturing her lips in a sweet kiss; soft and gentle and warm, and Marinette’s fingers threaded into his hair.

“Should we have a go here?” Adrien murmured against her lips, and Marinette pulled away, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. _“You know?”_ His fingers danced dangerously high underneath the skirt of her dress, and Marinette blushed furiously as she shoved him away.

“_N-no_ way!” She exclaimed, and she plucked the strip of photographs from his fingers as she stood and ripped the booth curtain aside.

“I was just joking!” Adrien defended as he ducked out of the photo booth, and although Marinette was very doubtful of his last comment, she let him hold her hand anyway.

“I don’t know what kind of girl you take me for, Mr Agreste,” she mumbled shyly.

Adrien grinned, and he licked his lips as he bent down to whisper into her ear, “_Oh_. I know _exactly_ what kind of girl you are, Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

* * *

Everything felt surreal as Marinette laid on the grass besides Adrien Agreste; _the_ Adrien Agreste that had just told her that he liked her; _the_ Adrien Agreste that she had just told she liked him back. It felt like a fever dream, giddy and nervous and excited like a school girl, but she tried to keep her cool with her head resting so close next to Adrien’s.

“I used to do this all the time,” Adrien finally said quietly, breaking the long but pleasant silence, and she turned her head to glance at him.

“Watch the stars?” Marinette asked, although she already knew the answer.

“Yeah. With a really close friend of mine.”

Marinette turned to look up at the dark sky again, the black dotted with bright whiteness, and she smiled as she said, “I did as well.”

Her heart ached at the memories of her and Chat Noir lounging atop the Parisian rooftops; when they’d met up for patrols together or when they found each other randomly in the middle of the night and decided that they could use each other’s company. They had been good times, simpler times it seemed; when it was just the two of them and the rest of the world was quiet. Marinette missed those moments with him, more than she’d ever thought to imagine. She wondered how he was; what he was doing; if he was still in the city living his normal life just like she was.

Adrien’s knuckle brushed against her thumb, and the touch was warm and familiar, but sent tremors of electricity through her bones and to the very tips of her toes. She turned her head to look at him again, but he was already facing her, candy-green eyes so bright in the star light, and Marinette curled her index finger around his.

“Are you sure that you like me?” Marinette asked him softly, because she liked him so, so much, and she _needed_ to be sure of his feelings for her so she wouldn’t fall to false hope.

Adrien grunted as he pushed himself onto his elbow, blonde hair swept low against his forehead as he looked down at her. He hummed in thought, his finger slipping from hers so he could trace a fingertip over her eyebrows, down her cheek, along the bridge of her nose. “I think I like you,” he teased, an uneven smile on his lips as Marinette pouted. “I did pretty much beg you to stay for breakfast this morning.”

She smiled. “Oh, do you not do that with all the girls you sleep with?”

A blonde eyebrow twitched, and Marinette found that she was holding her breath when he lowered his face closer to hers, nose bumping against her cheek. “Only the special girls.”

Marinette’s tongue snuck out to wet her lips, and she didn’t miss the way Adrien’s eyes shifted to her mouth. “How many special girls do you have?”

He answered instantly. “Only you.”

She moaned when he finally kissed her and her arms hooked around his shoulders, her fingers toying and tugging at the soft hairs at the nape of his neck. He kissed her slowly, carefully, his lips soft and gentle as they slipped against hers, his own fingers fixing on the small of her waist as he rolled on top of her, his knee planted firmly between her thighs. Marinette itched to touch his skin; her fingers dragging down his windbreaker, slipping beneath the warm material of his jacket and shirt, and pressing up the strong muscles of his back. She wanted him, wanted him more knowing that there was a chance for something more for the both of them; wanted to make him call her name and _her_ name only. Adrien’s licked into her mouth, and Marinette bucked into him, her knees squeezing tight around his hips as she met him with her own tongue and felt his groan shoot straight to the wetness between her legs. She felt his fingers moving down her waist, dancing across her thigh, and she was babbling against Adrien’s throat as his fingers disappeared beneath the hem of Marinette’s dress and cupped her through her pantries.

God, this wasn’t like her. She wasn’t the kind of girl to let someone do this to her in public. It was lewd and inappropriate, but god, did it feel good.

The sharp shrill of a whistle had Marinette shoving hard against Adrien’s chest, and she’d just smoothed out her dress when the blinding bright light of a flashlight burned into her eyes.

“You kids think this is the right place to be getting into mischief?” A police officer called out to them, and Marinette blushed a deep red at being called a kid. “Get a move on, before I have the right mind to slap you both with tickets for public indecency.”

Marinette squeaked as Adrien helped her to her feet, and his fingers were entwined tight against hers as he lead her out of the park, and she probably should have been more angry at him, but when she saw how hard he was trying to keep himself from laughing, she couldn’t seem to find it in her.

She really was that weak for Adrien Agreste, after all.

* * *

“Would you like to come inside?” Marinette asked him after Adrien had walked her back to her dorm room. She was hopeful, her body still buzzing from the night’s earlier activities.

Adrien chewed on the insides of his cheeks, eyes watching her so sincerely that it made Marinette feel like she was stark naked in front of him. “I want you to know that I’m more than just sexually attracted to you,” he told her sincerely, palms pressing into the doorframe as he lingered outside her dorm room. “I do like you, Marinette. I don’t want you to feel like you have to sleep with me to keep me interested.”

His confession was so sweet that it tug on her heart strings and almost had her swooning. But another part of her wanted him to so desperately bend her over the nearest surface and fuck her senseless. However, Marinette already felt exhausted after confessing to Adrien that she liked him, and she was too worried about overstepping to tell him what she really wanted, so instead she pressed her lips against his cheek in a soft and sweet kiss.

“Thank you, Adrien,” she said.

She could have sworn that she’d seen him blush, but he turned his head to the side and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’ll text you tomorrow?”

Marinette nodded. “Okay.”

He offered her a shy smile - somewhat unusual since Adrien had always been so bold up to this point, and Marinette caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched him leave down the hall. She shut the door finally when he disappeared, and a heavy breath left her lips as she slumped against her front door.

Another night, Marinette decided. Another night she would be more open about what she wanted.

She had just put the kettle on to boil when she realised that she had forgotten to give Adrien his cardigan back, and she smiled dreamily as she pulled the soft wool to her nose and breathed in the scent of him; warm, and spicy, and familiar. The space between her thighs throbbed, and Marinette sighed as she chased away images of Adrien in her mind.

A sudden knock at the door, and Marinette froze.

_Oh_?

She struggled to manage her manic grin as she skipped towards the door, and she pressed the back of her palms to her cheeks as she took a deep and steadying breath. A playful smile, and Marinette tugged open the door.

“Forgot some—“ Marinette stopped, smile twisting into a frown, and her eyebrows furrowed as she leaned forward to peek out into the empty hallway. “—thing...?” She dropped her gaze, and her eyes widened, heart high in her throat and palms growing clammy at the sight of the small, wooden box on the ground next to her feet.

Marinette’s breath hitched.

Carefully - slowly, as if she were waiting for something to jump out at her - she picked up the box with trembling fingers. A note sat beneath it, bent in half to conceal the contents, and Marinette picked that up too before shuffling back into her apartment and locking the door.

The box was familiar - all too familiar - and when she opened the note, she noticed that she recognised the handwriting too.

‘_**I need to speak with you - Mr Wang**_.’ 

“Master Fu Wang?” Marinette whispered, and her mouth felt dry as she looked back at the small box. She held her breath as she slowly opened the box.

It was like a sense of déjà vu when a ball of light formed inside the small, wooden box, but this time, Marinette kept her eyes open wide as she stared at the small creature that emerged.

“It’s nice to see you again, Marinette!”

The tears came immediately, and Marinette cried loudly and unashamedly as her trembling finger reached out for the red kwami.

“Tikki,” she said out loud, as if it confirm that the small creature was really there, and she hiccuped back a guttural sob as Tikki pressed a soft kiss against her fingertip.

“You’ve gotten so big, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed, her voice as sweet and high-pitched as Marinette remembered it, and she grinned through her tears as she nodded. “You’re more beautiful than I remember.”

“Tikki,” Marinette said again, because she didn’t know what else to say, and she sank to her knees, the Ladybug miraculous in her open palms and Tikki pressed up tightly against her cheek, and for the time being, Marinette’s heart was full and warm, content to stay in that moment forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> taking a break from the sin to build up to... smthin.... 
> 
> thnKz for reading pls leave ur thoughts. (ﾟ∀ﾟ)


	7. Ladybug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> may contain some spoilers regarding context if u haven't seen season 3 episode 16 - feast, & the season 3 final. i don't necessarily spoil stuff that happened in the show, but if u haven't seen that episode u might not know some stuff this chapter talks about

Adrien really should have been more accustomed to Nino pushing food onto his plate. After all, his best friend had been doing it ever since Adrien had told him about the strict diet his father had put him on back when they were only thirteen. But still, as an (almost) grown man, Adrien was fairly adamant on the fact that, _y__es, _Nino, he _did _know how to feed himself.

"Hey, I'm just making sure you're getting a high enough calorie intake, my dude," Nino protested, and Adrien deadpanned as yet another french fry was dropped onto his plate. "I mean, with all these _extracurricular _activities you've got going on now." 

Nino shot him a knowing look, his glasses slipping down to the very tip of his nose, and Adrien was half-tempted to snatch them off his face and throw them back at him. 

"Marinette is not an 'extracurricular' activity, Nino," Adrien chided. 

"But you are engaging in activities with her, aren't you?" Nino waggled his thick eyebrows, and Adrien shook his head. 

"Can you stop? The girls are going to be here soon, and I don't need them to overhear you talking about my personal... activities," Adrien finished slowly. 

Nino raised his eyebrows. "Activities," he agreed, a self-satisfied grin on his lips as he slipped another chip or two onto his plate.

Adrien knew that Nino didn't mean any harm. They had been best friends for a good seven or so years, even when Adrien had left France to explore the rest of Europe, and he was grateful for his support - he really was, but Adrien was an adult now. He could look after himself now. 

Adrien ate quietly as Nino had short conversations with other students that he knew from his classes, and although he was happy that his friends were able to attend the same university and make new friends together, he couldn't help but feel a little left out. He knew that he couldn't blame them, though. It had been his decision not to come back to Paris after he had finished school. Even his cousin, Felix had been surprised, and his cousin didn't often care too much about his personal life. He thought that he might enjoy university, but Adrien wasn't even sure what he wanted to with his future.

A soft hand on his shoulder, and Adrien was out of his own head, Marinette's soft smile warming his heart as she looked down at him. She had just come back from a yoga class with Alya, and with Marinette dressed in tight fitness leggings and a cropped band tee-shirt, Adrien couldn't help but feel compelled to stare. Her dark hair looked soft and silky in its high ponytail, and when she slipped next to him in the booth, it bounced and swayed between her shoulder-blades. 

Adrien liked Marinette, more than just a friend, and he knew that she felt the same, and although they weren't really anything official, he felt an odd sense of wanting everyone to know she was his. Well, she wasn't _really _his, but Adrien wanted her to be, and -- _wait, _had he just admitted that he wanted Marinette exclusively? The though made him feel jittery and light-headed, and he tapped his foot against the floor to keep him tethered to reality, and he told himself that he couldn't sell his heart to another girl. Not after... Not after Ladybug and what he had done. 

"Mm, looks good," Alya said as she picked a hot chip off Nino's plate, and even though he shot her daggers, he let her continue to pick at his food. 

"We did say that we would wait," Nino stated. 

"I know, baby," Alya cooed, a quick kiss to his cheek, and she was grinning as she slipped another chip between her lips. "We've already eaten, it's okay." 

Marinette radiated pure, unadulterated joy. She was practically glowing, and Adrien noticed that her bright smile had not once faltered since she had gotten there. She seemed bliss-ed out, in her own world, much like she had been when they were young. If she was on something, Adrien wanted it too. 

He nudged her with his elbow, and when she turned to look at him, her expression was so happy, so light and innocent that it actually made Adrien feel guilty for sleeping with her. "Having a good day?" He asked. 

"The best!" Marinette exclaimed, and she reached out to press her palm over his hand, warm and soft, her skin sending electricity through his, and Adrien was slightly aware of Nino and Alya watching them. "I feel like I can take on anything." 

Her joy was contagious. "Anything?" Adrien echoed. 

"Anything!" She confirmed. 

Adrien's fingers itched into the warm crevice between her thighs, and for the first time that day, Marinette's smile faltered into confusion. She furrowed her eyebrows at him, but Adrien only smiled as the pads of his fingers teased the inside of her thigh, itching further and further upwards. Marinette shot a worried glance at Nino and Alya, but they had apparently gotten bored of watching their friends' every move and were now gossiping among themselves. Marinette redirected her glance at Adrien, but she made no effort to stop his roaming hand. 

"Anything," Adrien repeated quietly. 

Marinette held her breath as his finger slipped against her clothed folds, and she bit down on her bottom lip as his hand slowly dipped beneath her leggings and over her panties. Her hips rolled automatically, as if her body was built to chase after Adrien's fingers, and Adrien noticed the flush of bright pink high in the apples of her cheeks, and he really should have felt bad for doing this to her, but he couldn't help but relish in every single moment of it. 

"Got any plans for the rest of the week?" Adrien asked, and if looks could kill, he'd have dropped dead. Marinette's eyes were narrowed, heated, and for a brief moment, he wondered if he had gone too far. 

"Luka's got another gig on Thursday night," Marinette answered sternly, and this time, Adrien narrowed his eyes, an odd smile on his lips as his fingers brushed aside Marinette's panties and he slipped knuckle-deep inside of her. She jumped, knees knocking against the underside of the table, and she giggled as Nino and Alya shot her confused glances. 

"You okay, girl?" Alya asked. 

"Mm!" She hummed, and Adrien wondered if that was a response to Alya, or to his ministrations. Marinette swallowed, a shy smile as she reached for Adrien's glass of water and sipped slowly. Adrien wet his lips as he watched her, shit-eating grin as he added a second finger. "W-We were just talking about -- Um--" 

"Luka's band's having another gig," Adrien finished for her, a picture of innocence as he chatted easily with their friends as if he wasn't stuffing finger after finger into Marinette's wet pussy just for mentioning Luka's name. Her knees snapped together, thighs trying to dull his movements, but Adrien was relentless. He thumbed her puffy clit as he asked, "Do you guys think you're going to go?" 

"Can't, dude," Nino said, leaning back in his chair as he pressed his hands behind his head. "Booked myself a DJ job at the campus pub."

That put a momentary pause to Adrien's fingers, and he kept them inside Marinette as he exclaimed, "Nino! That's awesome."

"So happy for you," Marinette piped in quietly, albeit a little breathlessly, but it was enough to remind Adrien of his task and he continued to pump his fingers in and out of Marinette's cunt. She jerked again, her hips moving to slam down on his fingers, and Adrien could tell by the squeeze of her pussy around his fingers that she was close. He circled her clit, and saw her bite down on her lip in the corner of his eyes. 

Alya pressed into Nino, hugging his face closely to her breasts, but he didn't seem to mind. "So, you'll have to apologise to Luka, because you _will _be coming to Nino's gig."

"Alya--" Nino protested. 

"No, man, of course we'll be there," Adrien interjected, and he smiled sweetly as he bumped his shoulder against Marinette. "You'll _come, _won't you, Marinette?" 

She did her best to hide her orgasm as excitement for Nino's news, and Adrien smiled smugly as Marinette nodded her head enthusiastically. "Y-Yes!" Marinette cried out, and she cleared her throat before adding, "I'll definitely be there." 

Marinette fidgeted as Adrien dragged his fingers out of her slowly, watching her as he fixed her panties in place and removed his hand from her pants. She shot him an irritated side-glance, but when she smacked his thigh it was light and innocent, and the corners of Adrien's lips twisted into a lopsided smile as he licked his fingers casually. 

* * *

It was a little after twelve in the morning when Marinette finally stretched back on the stool in her small campus apartment, the bones in her back creaking as she took a much deserved break from her assignment piece. She was running on fumes now, kept awake and motivated only by her high spirit and the sight of her red kwami napping peacefully atop the mannequin's head. As if sensing her gaze, Tikki opened her small eyes, bright in the faint light of Marinette's room, and she smiled. 

"Finished?" She asked. 

"Almost," Marinette said, her arms above her head - another creak between her shoulders. She stopped and stared, not really thinking much of anything, but feeling a sense of warmth from just having her dear friend back. 

"Are you okay, Marinette?" 

She was speaking before she even realised what she'd said. "Can I suit up?" Tikki blinked, now suddenly wide awake, and Marinette felt a lump in her throat the longer the kwami kept silent. "I-I know that you said I should wait until I talk to Master, first, but I--" 

"You don't have to explain yourself, Marinette," Tikki interrupted swiftly, her high-pitched voice soft and gentle, and she dipped down from her perch atop the mannequin to press a small hand to Marinette's cheek. _"You are Ladybug." _

Marinette sucked in a deep breath at that. When Master Fu had asked for the miraculous back when she was still young, he had promised her that it wouldn't be forever. However, seven years felt like an awfully long time, and Marinette had pondered on whether she really would get the miraculous back again. After all, there was no more Hawkmoth, and all the miraculous had been safely returned to Master Fu, the Guardian of the Miraculous. And yet, here she was, the ladybug miraculous secure in her ears as if they had always been there, and the kwami of creation smiling kindly at her. And Marinette wouldn't deny it anymore - she _loved _being Ladybug; it was a part of her. 

And, as if reading her mind, Tikki repeated again, "You are Ladybug, Marinette."

A glimmer of tears in her eyes, and the words came so naturally to Marinette as she said, "Tikki, transform me." 

Marinette felt sparks against her skin as a flash of bright red light flooded her vision, and in the next instant, Tikki was gone, and she felt invincible in the red and black suit, yo-yo slung around her narrow waist, and she pressed her gloved fingertips against her face, prodding at the mask that melded into her skin. She wasn't sure if it had been Tikki or if was because she was older now, but her transformation had dropped the cute twin ponytails she had always worn as a teenager, and instead replaced them with a single ponytail at the crown of her head, secured neatly with a short, red ribbon. 

Her heart beat hard in her chest, her fingers trembling with excitement as she opened up one of the windows, a deep breath through her nose as she unfastened the yo-yo from its place on her hip and slung it securely around the base of a chimney a few buildings away. Her apartment was on the third floor, and Marinette was surprised at her lack of nerves as she leapt through the window and swung through the early morning, the air only a slight chill against her face. She landed on her feet and rolled when she hit a rooftop, and she hadn't even realised that she was crying until a salty tear rolled into the corner of her mouth and she tasted it on her tongue. God, she missed this. It felt so right, so natural, like this was where she was _supposed _to be. She danced over the top of railings, cart-wheeled along balconies, and she tossed her yo-yo around the top of the Eiffel Tower and catapulted towards it, so free and joyous and content as she pressed her palms into the banister and looked over the city. It was quiet, so, so quiet, and yet, she had almost missed the thud of heavy boots against the iron floor of the tower. 

_"M-My Lady?"_

The words had been so soft, apprehensive, and Ladybug looked over her shoulder, the wind stinging her eyes from this far up, but she would have cried anyway. 

"Chat Noir," she sighed, and she flung herself towards him, wrapping her arms tightly around him like she would never let go, and she pressed her nose into the leather-like material of his suit. He was a good head taller than her now, his shoulders and chest broader, and she felt his body shutter as he carefully pressed his palms against her, holding her close. "You're still you," Ladybug mumbled, although, there was no real reason to choose new miraculous holders. 

His clawed fingertips dragged slowly through her ponytail, curling the hair around his index finger. Chat Noir smelt like the sun, warm and cozy, and she was so exhausted that she felt like she could fall asleep just like that, in his arms. She wanted to scold him, to lecture him for never telling her goodbye, but Ladybug just didn't seem to have it in her. She would stay for a little while longer, and then she would go. At least now, she knew that she would see him again.

* * *

Master Fu's address remained the same. 

It was a little nostalgic to Marinette; walking to his little apartment with Tikki happily nibbling on cookies in her small purse, and she was practically bouncing with nerves as she knocked on his front door. 

"M-Mar-Marinette!" Tikki protested from inside the jostling purse, and Marinette shot her an apologetic glance. 

Master Fu Wang looked older than the last time that Marinette had seen him. His grey hair was almost entirely balding, and he had grown out his mustache and beard. Still, he hadn't changed, and he spoke to Marinette with the same kindness and wisdom that she remembered. He poured her tea as they settled down, and Tikki and Wayzz sat a little off to the side, sharing their own small cup of jasmine tea. 

"I'm sorry that I have made you wait so long, Marinette," Master Fu apologised, his eyes downcast as he stirred his tea carefully, and when he finally looked up at her, his expression was remorseful. "It was never my intention to take the miraculous away from you for many years. But there were some... Difficulties with the order, and it ate away at the time."

"It's okay, Master," Marinette said, and she meant it. "I have Tikki back now, that's all that matters." She paused, tucked hair behind her ears and asked, "Is everything okay?" 

Master Fu nodded slowly, but he seemed less troubled now. "Yes, Marinette. Everything is okay. I'm getting old now, and the Order have been discussing appointing a new guardian for the Miraculous Box." He hesitated, and Marinette waited as he took a short sip from his tea. "I suggested you, Marinette." 

"W-What?" Marinette explained, and she shook her head so frantically that her head actually began to ache. "Master, you can't be serious--" 

"Please, don't worry, Marinette. Assigning a new guardian will be a long time coming. However, I know that you are more than capable, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." 

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. "But what about you?"

Master Fu smiled, genuine and kind. "I will be fine."

"Will you tell Chat Noir?" There was a sudden silence then, and Master Fu's smile faltered. Even Tikki and Wayzz who had been sipping tea and chatting quietly amongst themselves paused, and Marinette felt a sense of dread fill her stomach. "Wait," Marinette started again. "You're not thinking of finding a new holder for the cat miraculous, are you?" 

"No," Master Fu said, a small shake of his head, and Marinette didn't miss the concerned glance he shared with the two kwamis. "No, of course not." 

"Then what is it, Master?" Marinette asked. 

There was a long stretch of silence, and Master Fu sighed, lips pressed together tightly as he stared down at his cup of tea. Marinette almost wanted to snatch it out of his hand - just to get him to talk. 

"Marinette," Master Fu said finally, his voice quiet but sober. "Chat Noir... He never returned the cat miraculous."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oop there it is  
thanx for reading, & as always pls let me know ur thoughts 
> 
> DONT READ IF U NO SEE SEASON 3 FINAL  
ok so spoiler if u haven't seen season 3 final, but i know that when a new guardian is appointed that the previous guardian loses their memories but i don't like that so i'm kickin it outta my fic hehe thankz xxoxo


	8. Coping Mechanisms

Adrien would admit that he was somewhat surprised when he received Marinette's text at quarter-past ten in the evening asking if she could come over. However, he was certainly surprised when exactly one minute after he had responded - _'of course,'_ \- his intercom buzzed and Marinette was standing outside his apartment building. His eyebrows cinched as he watched her expression through the small monitor; her dark hair loose around her shoulders but not nearly as neat and put-together as typically expected from Marinette, and her arms were folded tightly over her chest, bottom lip practically swelling into a bruise as her teeth bit deep into the soft skin. She was tapping her chunky, heeled boot against the floor, and for a moment, Adrien wondered if she had finally come to lecture him about his antics the day before at the cafe. 

He buzzed her through and waited by his open front door, leaning his body into the door-frame as he watched the level indicator above the elevator doors, and he began to rub nervously at the back of his neck without even noticing. For as long as he had known her, Marinette had never really been an intense person - focused when it called for it, sure, but never intense. Although, when the elevator doors slid open and Marinette stepped into the small lobby, Adrien was sure that he was looking into the eyes of a woman on a mission. She paused for a brief moment, and Adrien froze - waited for the lecture to begin, but Marinette's shoulders hitched, and she was reaching out for him and fisting his shirt in her hands as her lips crashed against his. 

Adrien's eyes blinked close, eyebrows raised in surprise as he kissed her back, almost feverish and desperate, and his fingers pressed lightly against her wrists as he pulled away from her lips. 

"What's happening?" He asked dumbly. "Are you okay, Marinette?" 

"I just want to stop thinking," Marinette said, and her lips were still chasing his, thumbs brushing against his jawline as she pressed gentle kisses into the corners of his mouth. Her body was warm, and soft - _so soft _\- and Adrien was more than happy to have her lips wherever she wanted them, but it seemed so un-Marinette-like to him, like something was off. "Adrien, please," she pleaded, and he was losing all resolve to maintain some sense in the situation. 

"What's happened?" Adrien asked her, because something _had _happened, he knew that much for sure. He had known Marinette for years, and although they had never been exceptionally close, he knew that she certainly wasn't the kind to brush aside her issues and not tackle them head-on. 

"I don't want to think," she said again, and her eyes were glossed-over and half-lidded, rational though already gone as her warm lips chased the soft stubbled skin beneath his jaw. Adrien's eyes rolled - that was a soft spot, he realised. Her fingers dragged down his chest, splaying as they dipped against the smooth muscle of his stomach, and before Adrien lost all sense, he pulled her into his apartment and kicked the door closed behind them. He would have locked it, if Marinette wasn't on him like he was the one thing keeping her tethered to the earth. 

"Hey - what's the rush?" Adrien teased a little unsurely as she tugged off his tee-shirt, but he found that he didn't really mind the rushed pace as her warm fingers pressed and prodded and massaged his exposed skin.

She didn't answer him, eyes hungry and glassy as she freed herself of her own shirt, pausing for only a beat to ask him, "Is this okay?" 

Adrien stared at her a for a long moment, and he couldn't help but feel a little touched by her concern for him; despite whatever was fueling her desire, she was checking that he wanted this. He was nodding before he even realised. "Yeah." 

Her breasts were warm and soft and a _loud_ distraction as she pressed herself against him, her mouth seeking out the sweet spot beneath his jaw again - Marinette had obviously gauged out his reaction and was now using that to her advantage. Her fingers moved to the band of his sweatpants, pulling and tugging, and toying with the idea of pushing them down, and Adrien had half the mind to tease her about it - like she had done the other night. But he was so damn weak for her, desperate for her touch, and Adrien didn't have it in him to tease her like she had teased him. He'd take her whenever he got the chance. So, Adrien reached for her shorts instead, undoing the buttons with swift fingers and shoving them down her legs, palms cupping her ass and pushing her hips towards his in a desperate attempt to rut against her. There was no teasing from Marinette this time, and her fingers dug deep into the roots of his hair, holding him hostage as her lips pressed against his, teeth clanking at the desperation of the kiss, but neither one minded. She licked into his mouth, tongues crackling like electricity when they touched, and Adrien grunted into her open mouth as Marinette palmed his growing hard-on through his sweatpants. He ducked his head to kiss at her chest as he pulled off his pants, kicking them away as he palmed her breasts through her bra. Marinette obviously wanted more, as she unclasped her bra and that too, went missing somewhere on the floor. 

Adrien pressed his thumb into her nipple, rosy and firm, the tops of her pale breasts scattered with a light dusting of her freckles. That was cute - he hadn't noticed that before. His fingers danced over her bare skin, charting every inch into his memory so that he would never forget how her body felt against his fingertips, and his lips were sucking a love-bite onto the hollow of her neck as he cupped her ass and lifted her up and against him, her legs tightening around his waist like a vice. 

No waiting around this time. He went straight for the bedroom. 

Marinette grasped desperately for him when Adrien pressed her into the mattress, heavy breaths escaping through her parted lips, her face red and flushed as she lifted her hips towards his. Adrien couldn't help but feel a little guilty - he _knew _something was going on with Marinette, and even if this was her way of dealing with whatever issues she had, Adrien still felt like he was getting the better end of the deal. Regardless, he slipped off her damp panties without a word, and his cock throbbed in his briefs when she spread her legs for him - wet, lewd, and so incredibly alluring. 

And somehow, _somehow_, Adrien wasn't mortified at his own words when he whispered into her throat, "I'll fuck away whatever's bothering you, Princess." 

Marinette's hips bucked at that, and despite her greedy hands grabbing at his briefs, Adrien's palms pressed firmly against her hips and he rolled her onto her stomach. She looked over her shoulder at him, eyebrows only just furrowed, but she adjusted herself onto her elbows and knees, dropping her stomach towards the mattress as Adrien's fingertips danced along her spine. Her ass was soft and round and pale, and Adrien's tongue curled against his bottom lip as he rubbed a palm into her ass-cheek. He wondered how pretty her perfect little ass would like all marked up and red with his hand-prints. Well, she had said that she wanted to forget everything for a little while. 

Adrien tapped her ass lightly, a small sample of what he could offer her, and when Marinette moaned low in her throat and tried to press back into him, he bit down on his bottom lip and smacked her again, not too hard, but not lightly either, and Marinette's head titled upwards, a lovely moan hissing from between her clenched teeth. A third slap, harder this time, and the _smack_ of his skin against hers made his body feel giddy with excitement, cock jumping at the sight of his hand-print reddening against the milky pale flesh of her ass-cheek. Marinette cried out, face pressing into Adrien's pillows, and he watched the way her hips jerked, her fingers fisting into his sheets with every smack he delivered to her ass. He gave her other ass-cheek the same treatment, his own palm beginning to sting at the force of the smacks, but Marinette lapped them up, moans heavy and muffled as she groaned into the pillow, and Adrien licked his lips as he delivered one final, softer smack between her thighs - Marinette's back arched at that, followed by a string of words Adrien couldn't hear - and he tugged off his briefs. 

She was wet, _so _wet already, and Adrien's eyes rolled back into his head as he dragged the head of his cock against her folds, intoxicated already by the feel of her. Marinette pushed back against him, desperate to have him inside of her already, and Adrien was more than willing to oblige as one hand gripped her hip and the other gathered her hair, and he pressed into her with one, smooth thrust. They groaned together, Marinette's hips already working frantically to try and create some friction, but Adrien would make her wait a little bit longer - just enough to enjoy the feeling of her wet and hot and squeezing him all over. 

"Adrien," she whined, her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked over her shoulder at him, and Adrien's fingers curled carefully around the back of her neck, pressing the side of her face into the pillow. She looked gorgeous beneath him, an absolute vision, and Adrien's eyes were fixed on her face as he rocked into her fully, mesmerized as her tongue lolled out of her mouth and her eyes squeezed closed. "Come on, come on--" She babbled. 

Adrien grinned. "Eager." 

"Shut up." 

He set a steady pace, hips digging deep into her ass with each thrust, and he pressed his chest into her back. Adrien could get into her deeper from this angle, the sensation so completely raw and new, like this was the first time that he had really ever truly been inside of Marinette, and it was making his head feel dizzy. He pressed hot, wet kisses against her shoulder-blades, his finger-tips slipping from the back of her neck and threading into the roots of her dampening hair. God, Adrien didn't think that he could ever tire of this, of being inside her, surrounded by her - he was completely and undeniably smitten, and no amount of time he spent with Marinette would ever be enough. She cried out when his arm circled around her waist so his fingers could press against the sensitive bundle of nerves, thumbing at her clit unrelentingly. Marinette's chest had dropped completely into the mattress now, the only thing keeping her upright was Adrien's strong arms as he plowed into her without any intention of slowing. 

"S'deep," Marinette slurred, and she turned her head so she could bite down on the pillow. Adrien, desperate for her pants and groans, wove her hair around his hand and tugged her head upwards, and relished in the sounds of her gasps and moans. All for him. Her legs began to tremble and she was moaning low under her breath as Adrien's fingers against her clit and his cock in her cunt drove her towards the edge, and when she came, she cried out loudly, and Adrien could only hope that his neighbours could hear her screaming out his name. It made him feel high - the fact that he was the one that was making her feel this good - and he slowed his thrusts and Marinette rode out her orgasm. Her body was shaking when Adrien's hips finally stilled, and when she glanced over her shoulder at him, his eyes were half-lidded but his cock was still hard and hot inside of her. 

“Did you finish?” She asked between laboured breaths. 

Adrien realised suddenly that no, he did not finish. He wanted to say something witty in response; something that might have the apples of her cheeks blushing a bright pink and make him feel like he was the suave protagonist of some romance manga that he used to read all the time when he was younger. But, alas - he was, surprisingly, at a loss for words, because his brain was not at all working and he was thinking only with his throbbing cock buried deep within her cunt. 

He pulled out of her, and Marinette whines at the sudden loss of contact, but when he tapped her thigh and shifted positions, she silently obeyed. He laid flat on his back, and Marinette flushed a lovely shade of pink as she crawled onto his thighs, her fingers pressing into his chest as Adrien slowly lined his cock against her wet folds, and when he pushed into her once more, Marinette threw her head back and moaned loudly. She was tighter after her climax, and Adrien gritted his teeth as he thrust into her, Marinette’s hips quickly finding a rhythm with his, and Adrien’s hands roamed over her body, hot and damp with sweat. 

Marinette was growing delirious, her thighs trembling as she shook her head and babbled, “Can’t... Adrien, I can’t—“ 

“Yeah, you can, Princess,” he told her, and with a particularly hard thrust into her, Marinette cried out and dug her fingernails into his skin. Her movements were slowing with exhaustion, so Adrien sat up, cradling her tightly in his arms as he fucked into her with renewed vigour at the thought of making her come again, and he could feel Marinette’s mouth at his neck, kissing and sucking and nibbling the skin there. 

“A-Adrien,” she hiccuped, still sensitive from her first orgasm and approaching her second, and Adrien could feel her pussy fluttering around him, trying to milk him for everything he had.

“Come on,” Adrien panted into her ear, hot breath stirring her hair. “Come on, Mari. One more. You can give me one more.” 

And as if his words had been some sort of permission, Marinette clamped around him, her body shaking as her second climax tore through her body and had her toes curling. 

“Inside,” she babbled, kisses messy and wet as Adrien fucked into her desperately, chasing his own end. “You can come inside.” 

“Fuck,” Adrien cursed, his come hot and thick as he released inside her, and their mouths met for one more messy clash of tongues and kisses, and Adrien’s hips slowed as he emptied his fill. 

Marinette collapsed against his chest, entirely spent, eyes already rolling back into her head as exhaustion consumed her. Adrien carefully rolled her onto her back, watching the way her eyebrows cinched when he pulled out of her, and he brushed hair off her damp forehead. 

“You okay?” He asked her. 

“Yeah.” She swallowed and attempted a weak nod. “I’m okay.” 

Adrien wanted to ask her about what was troubling her; why she had been so worked up in the first place. But he decided that this wasn’t the time, and held onto the thought that if she wanted to tell him, she would. After all, Marinette didn’t really owe him anything. For the time being, he slipped off the bed to wet a wash-cloth to clean up the both of them, and when he returned, Marinette was already slipping in and out of unconsciousness. 

He cleaned her carefully, trying his best not to wake her up, and when he was done, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and whispered, “Sweet dreams, Princess.” 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> food ??   
sorri (kinda uneventful chapter)   
but thank u sm for reading & pls leave ur thoughts and opinions !!


	9. Through the Haze of Overflowing Emotions

Marinette was exhausted, but she woke to the smell of pancake batter cooking in a hot pan and the low rumble of water being boiled in a kettle. Sleep crusted in the corners of her eyes, and her lips twisted in disgust as she rubbed it away, and was thankful that at least her hair wasn't a total mess. She realised that she must have been crying sometime during the night -- she could feel the faint outline of the tear-stains on her cheeks, and she wiped them away too. It was still a funny feeling to Marinette, waking up in Adrien's bed, and although they had been getting together for a while now, it still felt like a dream. 

And if it was a dream, Marinette hoped that she would never wake up. He was the only thing keeping her together. 

She had gone to sleep naked the night before, and considering that she was now wearing one of Adrien's tee-shirts, she assumed that he must have put it on for her. She couldn't help but blush at that. It was a little funny to her - at times, Marinette sometimes thought that their weird little relationship was really starting to feel like they were actually dating. 

Her thighs were a little achy when she finally slipped out of the bed, and Marinette left the bedroom quietly, fidgeting with her fingers as she stopped by the kitchen counter to watch Adrien. His back was turned towards her, and he was wearing sports shorts and a white tank top, and Marinette smiled absentmindedly as she watched him. She would never get over his beauty; his tanned skin, golden hair, and strong body, and Marinette wanted nothing more than to be able to curl into him completely — to be lost in his scent and the steady thrum of his heartbeat, and she hadn’t even realised that she had begun to nervously gnaw at the soft flesh of her bottom lip until she the coppery taste of blood slipped onto her tongue. Marinette must have made some noise at that, because Adrien looked over his shoulder at her, and his smile was so sunny and bright that it almost washed away all of her worries. 

“Good morning,” he greeted, and when he twisted his hips only slightly so he could face her better, Marinette realised that he was wearing the shirt that she had made for him as a welcome back present. It made her stomach flutter and her heart swell in her chest. “Sleep well?” 

“Like a baby,” Marinette answered. 

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed, and there was an odd smile on his lips, as if he were debating thoughts inside his head. He huffed a soft laugh and finally said, “You were really clingy last night.” 

Oh god. 

“Was I?” She grimaced, and Marinette could already feel the heat of her blood rushing to her cheeks. “Sorry, I—“ 

“It’s okay.” He was quick to remedy the situation, and that warm and kind smile never left his lips. “I don’t mind — just not used to it, I guess. It felt... Good.” 

Marinette had to refrain herself from nibbling on her lower lip and risk re-opening the small wound that had already begun to crust over, and she felt like her heart was in her throat as she crossed the short distance between them to slip her arms around him in a tight embrace, her forehead pressed into his clothed chest, and Marinette thought that he smelled like sunshine and warmth. It made her heart squeeze with adoration, and she wanted to tell him that she wanted him to feel like that always; that he could have her and use her in anyway that he wanted, because she loved him. _Oh_, she loved him so much, and it _hurt_. 

Her heart stumbled over a beat when he finally embraced her, arms warm and careful against her skin, and Marinette squeezed her eyes shut as she silently whispered into his chest: _I love you, I love you, I love you._ Adrien rested his chin gently on the top of her head, and when he released a heavy breath through his nose, it stirred her dark hair.

Quietly, so soft that Marinette almost missed it, Adrien whispered, “Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with you instead?” 

Marinette’s body grew cold and stiff, and she felt a sense of unease settle in her chest. She swallowed, a thick and heavy lump that was painful to swallow with her dry throat, and Marinette pulled away from him slowly, her body already yearning for his warmth. Adrien’s face had gone pale, his apple-green eyes glistening with what might have been tears, but if they were, he was holding them back. 

Marinette furrowed her brows, and when she licked her lips, she could still taste the coppery remnants of blood. 

“_What_?” She asked, and then she blinked incredulously, because after the heartache settled, she felt anger rise in her gut — and she was fuming.

“Marinette, I didn’t mean—“ 

Marinette took a large step back. “_I’m sorry?_ Am I just somebody that you’re seeing on the side?” 

Adrien stepped towards her, so Marinette ducked behind the counter out of his reach, and the despair glimmering in his eyes was almost enough to quell her anger. _Almost_. 

“No, of course not! I’m sorry, that came out wrong — Just, let me explain — I don’t want to lose what we have.” 

Tears were threatening to obscure her vision now, and Marinette was so furious at herself because she _knew_; she _knew_ that she had only been building herself up to fail. This was exactly what she had been worried about from the start. 

“What we have?” Marinette choked out, and she shook her head as she backed away several large steps and turned sharply on her heel, fleeing towards the bedroom to change into her clothes. “What could we _possibly_ have if you’re in love with someone else?”

“Marinette, please,” Adrien pleaded, and Marinette glanced at him for only a second to see him standing at the bedroom door. She wouldn’t look at his eyes; couldn’t, not when she could hear the way his voice shook when he spoke. “It’s not what it seems.” 

She’d put on her bra and shirt, but she paused for a single moment as she snatched her shorts from the bedroom floor. Her eyes trained on anything but Adrien. “Are you in love with somebody else?” Marinette asked. 

There was a long pause. Too long of a pause. Marinette climbed into her shorts and pulled on her boots. 

“I am, but—“ 

“There is no ‘_but_’!” Marinette exclaimed, and she could feel hot tears stinging in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to wipe them away in front of Adrien. “I like you, Adrien. I like you a lot, but I am not going to be anyone’s second option. Not even for you.” 

“Marinette, I — Please, it’s complicated.” 

“Then maybe you should take this time to un-complicate it.” Marinette finally looked at him, and her heart sunk deep into the pit of her stomach, because Adrien looked so entirely devastated - a stark contrast to the bright young man that she’d first seen that morning. She looked away, an uncomfortable heaviness deep in her stomach, and despite Adrien’s protests, he still stepped aside to let her pass. 

It was so typical of Adrien. He had been trapped his whole life. The least he would want to do was make someone else feel like he had. 

When she reached the front door, Adrien begged quietly, “Please, Marinette. Don’t go.” 

Marinette didn’t want to. She wanted to crawl into his arms; to feel his warmth all around her as he held her tight to him; wanted to sit down with him and eat the pancakes that he had made. A loud sob tore through her throat, and Marinette slapped her palms over her mouth. 

“Mari...” Adrien said softly. 

“I’ll talk to you later,” Marinette told him, but she wouldn’t turn back to look at him. She hated herself in the moment that she left, the door of Adrien’s apartment swinging shut behind her, and she jabbed frantically at the elevator buttons; only allowing herself to cry when the doors shut and she was alone.

* * *

Marinette didn't want to dwell on what had happened, but she couldn't help it. 

She was angry at herself - _so _angry at herself, because she really should have seen it coming, and it was why she had been so reluctant to let herself believe that she and Adrien could have had something more beyond friendship and friends with benefits, or whatever it was that they'd had going on between the two of them. Tikki did her best to keep up with everything that Marinette was saying. After all, she had only returned to Marinette recently, and there was quite a lot that she had missed out on. Still, it felt good; having Tikki around to talk to just as she had when she was younger. It was a familiar kind of sensation, something that made Marinette feel safe and supported. 

"I just feel like an idiot," Marinette had said. 

"You're not an idiot, Marinette," Tikki told her softly, in that kind and calming voice that seemed to lull Marinette into a sense of calmness. "Let's try not to jump to conclusions. Maybe you and Adrien just need some time to think about your relationship."

Marinette gave a small smile. Tikki really was the voice of reason. 

She worked on her final project for most of the day, eyebrows furrowed tightly and her tongue sneaking out from between the part in her lips. The bones in her fingers had begun to ache by the time late afternoon hit, after working for so many hours pinning and marking, and using her fine motor skills to work out the finer details on her design. It was a good distraction, Marinette knew that, and even after she had worked her fingers to the bone and there was not much else for her to do, she tried to push on with her work, grasping desperately at the smallest little jobs that she could do. 

Eventually, Tikki spoke up. "Maybe it's time that you took a break," she said. "You've been working all day."

Marinette sighed and she leaned back, the bones between her shoulder-blades popping loudly, and she winced as she stretched her neck side to side. She didn't want to think about Chat Noir and what Master Fu had told her, and she had thought that she could get away with it by visiting Adrien for a nice distraction, but that hadn't seemed to work out either. She just didn't want to think about it; Chat Noir - _her _Chat Noir - running off with a miraculous, after everything that they had gone through together, fighting Hawkmoth who had done the _exact _same thing. It made her stomach coil with a nasty unpleasantness, because it was so unlike him. And over the years, Marinette liked to think that she had gotten to know Chat Noir quite well, as both Marinette and Ladybug. Chat Noir was a hero, a good person, so it hurt all the more to find out that he had taken the cat miraculous and left... left _her, _too. 

"Here," Tikki piped, her voice small and sweet, and Marinette smiled as the pink kwami held out a chocolate chip cookie for her to take. She had bought them for Tikki, of course; they had always been her favourite, after all. 

"Thank you, Tikki." 

As she absentmindedly chewed on the biscuit, Marinette thought back to what Master Fu had said, how he didn't seem angry or upset, or at all betrayed by Chat Noir's actions, but rather, sympathetic. Marinette shook her head - she knew that Master Fu was patient and kind, but Marinette couldn't seem to understand how he didn't feel like he had been betrayed.

Marinette felt betrayed. 

And she was angry. Frustrated. She wanted to find Chat and hold him and shake him, and demand _why? _Why steal a miraculous. Why disappear? Why _leave her alone. _It wasn't fair. Marinette lost Chat Noir _and_ Tikki. Why didn't he have to lose anything? Years - this had been going on for years, right under her nose, and she hadn't even known. She couldn't help but feel angry at Master Fu, too. After all, he had known that Chat Noir never returned the miraculous, had always known who Chat Noir was behind the mask, and hadn't done anything to remedy the situation. Why hadn't Master told her? She could have found Chat and demanded to know just what he was thinking; could have dragged him back to Master Fu's small apartment and settled the issue there. 

But no. She had been kept in the dark for years, and she supposed that there was a reason for that. 

"Marinette?" Tikki asked quietly, and when Marinette finally came out of her own head and back to reality, the kwami was hovering in front of her face, kind eyes watching her with concern. "Are you okay?" 

Marinette sighed, a heavy and long breath of air through her nostrils, and she raised a finger to carefully poke at the side of Tikki's cheek. "Yeah. Do you think it's okay if I suited up for some fresh air?"

Tikki smiled, her small hands holding Marinette's finger in a light hug. "You are Ladybug."

* * *

It was strangely nostalgic sitting atop the rooftop of her old school. 

The sky had darkened quickly, and the air was beginning to pick up a cool chill, and Marinette was thankful that the Ladybug suit’s inhuman abilities were able to keep her warm enough so that she was still comfortable. She had half the mind to de-transform and chat to Tikki as she looked over the dark city, but she found that she didn’t really mind the quiet too much. Marinette had always liked to watch Paris like this - away from the rest of the world, in a quiet space where she could breathe fresh air and let her worries ebb away with the wind. 

And Marinette had worries; worries that she, for the first time in a very long time, wasn’t sure how to deal with.

She sighed as she leaned further into the short wall that bordered the edges of the rooftop, fingertips tense beneath her polka-dotted gloves, and she closed her eyes as she tilted her face towards the night sky. Marinette liked to think that she had become a more rational and logical person over the years, but she was grasping for solutions to her issues, and she didn’t even know where to begin. And then, as if the gods were reading her mind, she heard the soft, tell-tale thump of thick boots behind her, and she felt her body flush with red hot fury. 

“What a coincidence finding you here, My Lady,” Chat Noir said, although his voice lacked the childish glee that she had grown so familiar with once upon a time. 

Ladybug gritted her teeth. If he thought that things would go back to normal so easily, he was sorely mistaken. 

She turned slowly, a slight twist of her hips first to cast a hard glare over her shoulder, and she was absolutely _livid, _because the moment she saw him standing there in front of her - green eyes so bright in the darkness and golden hair so soft and beautiful even though it was ridiculously unkempt - she began to cry. Ladybug hardly realised until the hot tears dropped off her mask and rolled down her cheeks, thick and salty, and her fingers curled into impossibly tight fists. There must have been something in her expression, fury in her eyes maybe, because Chat Noir’s pleasant smile dropped instantly and his shoulders slumped. 

She saw his adam’s apple jump in his throat when he swallowed and assumed, “Master Fu told you then?” 

“Better late than never, I guess,” Ladybug retorted, venom in her voice, and she felt ice-cold pain in her chest when Chat’s leather ears flatten against his skull, but she couldn’t seem to keep her emotional control in tact. “Were you ever going to tell me?” 

Chat Noir’s gaze shifted, and he swallowed again before he said, “It’s not really something that is easy to say—“ 

“Is that why you took off?” Her hands were shaking now, fingers trembling within her closed fists. “Because you couldn’t own up to what you had done?” 

“Ladybug, I’m sorry—“ 

“Master Fu _trusted _us with the cat and ladybug miraculous,” Ladybug spat, chest heaving as she stared across at the man she had once known so well. “We _promised _to do the right thing; to not put the miraculous at risk. _You broke that promise! _And you think that you can fix that with a simple _sorry?” _

Chat Noir shook his head, and he dragged his palms up his face and through his hair. “It’s still me, okay? I’m still Chat Noir—“ 

Ladybug narrowed her eyes. “The Chat Noir I know would never betray me.” 

He stopped, and for a short moment, Ladybug thought that maybe he had actually stopped breathing. Chat opened his mouth, then closed it, and she watched him as he gulped like a fish out of water. 

Finally, slowly, Chat Noir said quietly, “I never meant to betray you, Ladybug.” 

“But you did,” she told him, and she shook her head, her own gloved fingertips delving into the roots of her dark hair. “What were you even _thinking? _Did you not think through what you were doing? Or did you decide to take a page out of Hawkmoth’s book and—“ 

“_Don’t_,” Chat Noir said. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t a yell or a scream; But it was low and hard and stern, and a voice that Ladybug had never, _ever _heard before, especially from Chat Noir who was usually so light and playful, and it was frightening. She hadn’t meant what she had said; she was just upset, and she regretted the words as soon as they slipped off her tongue, leaving a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. “Don’t—“ he continued with that cold, detached tone, eyes hard as they set on hers. “—Compare me to him. _Ever.” _

She hesitated, momentarily stunted by his out-of-characterness, but her feelings of rage revitalised her, and Ladybug met his glare. “Then why?” 

When Chat Noir spoke again, the hardness had disappeared from his voice, but he sounded strained when he admitted, “I couldn’t lose Plagg.” 

Ladybug’s brow cocked on its own accord, and the tears were stinging in her eyes again. “You couldn’t lose Plagg,” she repeated. “But it was okay for me to lose Tikki? To lose Master Fu? To lose _you _and have this whole part of me ripped away? You aren’t the only miraculous holder, Chat Noir. You weren’t the only one to _lose something.” _

“I couldn’t lose this side of me. I couldn’t,” Chat exclaimed, his own voice near frantic as he argued with her, hands clenched into tight fists at his side. “I’m nothing without the miraculous. Without Plagg. _Without Chat Noir_.” 

“If that’s what you think then you shouldn’t have the miraculous in the first place!” Ladybug yelled, voice cracking through her tears, and she could taste salt on her tongue. 

Silence. 

They breathed heavy, faces wet with tears and throats sore from holding back sobs, and Ladybug wished that things weren’t like this; wished that they were still kids again, laughing and joking, and not feeling like their bodies were being ripped apart from heartache. 

“Fine,” Chat Noir finally said, and Ladybug blinked through the haze of her overflowing emotions. He pulled off the ring on the fourth finger from the thumb, and Ladybug squinted through the bright lights of his de-transformation.

Her breath caught somewhere deep in her throat, and she swore that she could feel her heart slowly breaking as she stared at Adrien Agreste’s face, his cheeks wet and eyes bloodshot, and his lips were pressed into a tight and rigid line as the black kwami carefully prodded at his shoulder.

”Adrien... Kid, listen—“ Plagg began softly. 

“Here,” Adrien said as he held out the miraculous for Ladybug to take, but she was frozen, feet glued to the rooftop as she stared at him. 

_Oh, fuck._

”Go on,” he prompted. “Take it. I should have given it back anyway, right?” 

She wanted to say something, but her mouth couldn’t seem to form the words. 

He sniffed loudly, and Ladybug watched that same bump in his throat bob as he swallowed, and then he crouched down and placed the silver ring on the dusty roof-top. Ladybug watched dumbly, fingers slowly loosening from tight fists as Plagg sank to the ground by the miraculous. Adrien refused to look down, lump bobbing in his throat again, and then he turned, barging through the rooftop doors (which were ((for him)) conviently unlocked), and they slammed closed with a thundering boom. 

Ladybug felt like she could hardly breathe, her heart jumping frantically in her chest, and she sunk to her knees, fingers gingerly reaching for the cat miraculous. Plagg shot her a sorrowful glance, and then he too was gone, disappeared into thin air. 

And then Ladybug was alone. So much more alone than she had ever been before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok shit after writing this i felt so bad like.. far out i really dragged him through the gutter in this one sorry man 
> 
> as always thank u for reading/commenting/kudos & pls leave ur thoughts and opinions
> 
> also posted this on 1 july in AWST but apparently i’m a time traveller lmao


	10. Yes, As Many Times As You Like

Marinette Dupain-Cheng truly felt like she could continue wallowing in self-pity into the next week, but she knew that it wouldn't be fair on Nino who had finally scored a DJ-ing job at their university campus' pub, and she finally realised (a bitter pill to swallow when she finally acknowledged it) that she had no right to feel sorry for herself. She was the only one at fault here, her and her big mouth and her presumptuous behaviour, and it was _painful _to come to terms with. Marinette didn't like being wrong, didn't like doing the wrong thing, and for the most part, she was more often than not good and kind, understanding and patient. But she **_had _** been wrong; done the wrong thing; said the wrong thing; upset the two people (who happened to be the same person) that she loved and cared for the most. And if her uncalled outburst and arrogance weren't kicking her down hard enough, the fact that she'd hurt Chat Noir (_Adrien), _maybe even on purpose just because she was angry, made it all the worse and felt like a kick to her already bruised ego. 

So, no. Marinette Dupain-Cheng really had no right to feel sorry for herself, and she told herself that over and over again as she blow-dried and styled her hair. 

"You couldn't have possibly known what Chat Noir was experiencing, Marinette," Tikki tried to reassure, her sweet voice soothing, but not enough to quell the swirling mess of emotions welling inside Marinette's chest. 

"I know," Marinette agreed, although she wasn't too sure if she meant it, or if she had said it just for the kwami's benefit. She blinked at her reflection in the mirror, a short pause before she swept a make-up brush against her cheek. "Still, I could have been more understanding. We were partners, after all." 

_"Are," _Tikki corrected. "You _are _partners. You're a good person, Marinette. I know that you will make things right."

Her chest felt tight, and she felt like she could have cried if she let herself, because Tikki was so patient and understanding, and Marinette didn't stop herself from scooping the pink kwami into her palms and kissing the top of her small, round head. Tikki let out a sweet and high-pitched giggle, her small hands reaching up to press against Marinette's chin.

"Thank you, Tikki," Marinette said as she carefully traced a finger over the kwami's head, and she set her down gently to continue applying her make-up. The campus pub was always busy on Thursday nights, seeing as it was one of the two nights that they hired a DJ and sold drinks with a cheap discount. She was thankful that she didn't have classes on Friday, but Marinette vowed that she would still have to take it easy. She hoped that Adrien was still going, because he was her ulterior motive for going, after all. Alya hadn't mentioned otherwise, and since she was with Nino all the time, Marinette had to assume that Adrien hadn't decided to back out. Why would he though? Adrien and Nino were best friends, and if there was one thing that Marinette was positively certain about Adrien, it's that he felt strongly about supporting his friends. 

She slipped the cat miraculous, Chat Noir's ring, into her purse for safe keeping, because she would be damned if anything happened to it while it was in her possession. Marinette assumed that the right thing to do would be to return it to Master Fu so he could sort it out. But she ultimately decided that Chat Noir... _Adrien_... should never have given her the miraculous in the first place. If he really wanted to give up his miraculous, then he should have returned it to Master Fu himself. Marinette was just holding it for safe-keeping, only temporarily until Ladybug could return it to Adrien. Master Fu really didn't need to know anything about it, and if Tikki was opposed to her way of thinking about the situation, she kept quiet about it. 

This was Ladybug's mess to fix, and she would fix it. She just hoped that Adrien didn't resent her too much. 

The air had already begun to chill by the time Marinette left her apartment, autumn rapidly approaching, and she hugged her arms around herself as she walked through the quiet campus accommodation, high-heeled boots _click, click, clicking _against the concrete pathway as she headed towards the university's pub not too far a walk from her building. She was running a little late - she winced at that and wondered if she'd receive a talking to from Alya - and she could already hear the music as she approached the pub. Marinette could feel the music through the soles of her boots, a never-ending stream of electro house remixes of popular songs momentarily shocking her senses. 

Nino was up-front behind a mixing booth, and when he spotted her, he lifted his chin and shot her a bright smile. Marinette held up two-thumbs up and grinned back, and she then she weaved her way through the crowd of dancing bodies and sloshing beverages, until she found Alya laughing and clapping and throwing up finger-pistols from where she was huddled in a cozy corner booth. There were others there too, girls that Marinette and Alya had gone to school with, like Alix, Rose, and Juleka, and even Max and Kim had made an appearance, too. It had been a while since she had seen many of them, and she slid into the booth with a wide smile, shouting greetings to her friends over the loud music. 

"You're late!" Alya lectured, though the blissed look on her expression suggested to Marinette that maybe she wasn't really bothered by that at all. Marinette shot her a sheepish smile and a small shrug of her shoulders. 

"It's Marinette!" Alix pointed out, and she rolled her eyes playfully, her bubble-gum pink eye-shadow a perfect match to the colour of her hair. "What else did'ya expect?" 

Max snorted at that, and even as a deep blush settled in Marinette's cheeks, she didn't feel at all offended. Rose hugged her close, cooing at her as she ran her hands over Marinette's dark hair soothingly. 

Soon, the group was sharing chatter and gossip again, and although Marinette _really wanted _to participate and engage with the others, she couldn't help but notice one somewhat memorable presence missing from the crowded booth. Her eyebrows creased as she searched the bar for Adrien, and although her heart skipped whenever her eyes caught sight of blonde hair, that blonde hair never belonged to the head that she was looking for. She frowned and waved off Alya's concerned glance, and she quickly gestured that she was heading over to the bar for a drink. 

Marinette was certain that Alya would have said something if Adrien had said that he wasn't going, and she _knew _that Alya would have heard something, because there was no way Adrien would not show up to his best friend's DJ-ing gig without saying anything first. Could it be possible that he was trying to avoid her? Marinette bit on her bottom lip, eyebrows furrowed tightly, and she stared down at the bar counter. She supposed that she could understand if that were true and Adrien was trying to actively avoid her. After all, Marinette hadn't really given him the chance to explain himself back when he had said -- Marinette felt a sinking feeling deep in her chest, and she didn't want to think about it but she knew that it was only the adult and grown-up thing to do. 

_He loved someone else. _An image of Kagami flared in Marinette's mind, and she chased it away with a scowl. It could be Kagami, could it? After all, Alya had told her that they had broken up not too long after they had started dating. Surely if he was still in love with her, he would have reached out, right? 

"Can I buy you a drink?" 

Marinette blinked, eyes wide as she turned her head to the side, and she felt her heart flutter hard against her rib-cage when Adrien Agreste smiled kindly at her. His hair was a little messy, but of course, on Adrien, looked like a team of professional hairstylists had preened over it for hours. His eyes were bright and candy-apple green, and Marinette briefly registered that a remix of Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes' _'Time of My Life' _was playing.

Marinette wondered if Nino had done that on purpose. 

"Hey..." Marinette said, and she looked away, because now that she knew that _Adrien was Chat Noir, _the similarities were so easy to see, and she honestly wasn't sure how she felt about the fact that she had been sleeping with her ('platonic') partner over the past few weeks. She glanced down at his left hand and wondered why she hadn't been more observant about the ring that he always wore. 

"Hey," Adrien echoed. 

Marinette glanced up at him briefly, and she licked her lips as she reached for her own purse and said, "How about I buy you a drink instead?"

Adrien's eyebrow twitched, and he sported that amused smile that Marinette had grown so familiar with. "Didn't I ask you first?"

"I asked you second, which means that I get the final say." 

"That doesn't seem very fair." 

Marinette shrugged a shoulder, and a small smile danced over her lips as she tapped her debit card on the bar top. “It’s on me,” she told him when the bartender strolled over, a young college student whose eyes dipped down Adrien’s body appreciatively. 

Adrien’s tongue slipped out to wet his bottom lip, and he smiled too. “I’m not drinking, actually.” 

She raised an eyebrow and shot him a quizzical look, but when she was sure that his answer wasn’t going to change, she turned back to the bartender and said, “Sorry, we’re okay for now.” 

Adrien returned her confused look, but he decided not to comment.

Marinette felt like a school-girl again, back when she had first started crushing on him and had never known what to say or do around him. She felt awkward and unsure, and she decided that she had the whole night to build up the courage to talk to him properly. 

“Um — So, the others are this way—“ 

“Marinette,” Adrien said as he reached out to grab her wrist, and Marinette froze completely, hanging off his words. “Can we talk?” 

_Ah. _So it would happen sooner rather than later. 

Marinette nodded, and as Adrien led her outside into the beer garden, quieter and more spacious compared to the inside of the crowded and loud pub, she glanced over and made eye-contact with Alya. The red-head waggled her eyebrows, eyes wide with encouragement behind her thick glasses, and Marinette couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. 

There were a few pub-goers outside, mostly smokers who kept to themselves in a small and tight circle, and Marinette’s nose crinkled at the strong stench of cigarette smoke. Adrien must have noticed that, because he steered clear of the group. He stopped in a quiet corner, dark and sectioned off from the rest of the beer garden by a picket fence overgrown with ivy vines, and if Marinette didn’t know Adrien any better, she might have been worried that he was up to no good. 

“I’m sorry about what I said the other day,” he said immediately, and Marinette was momentarily taken aback by the urgency in his voice. “It’s not what I meant at all.” 

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Marinette told him, and the cool wind was sobering; helped her think straight. “I’m sorry, too. I overreacted, and I should have given you a chance to explain. I was a bit of a jerk.” 

“You weren’t.” His fingers twitched at his sides, and he lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck. “I just want you to know that I really do like you, Marinette. And I like what we have, and I don’t want to lose that.” Adrien glanced away for a short moment, and when he turned to look at her again, he dropped his arm back to his side. “But I can’t lie to you either. It feels wrong.” 

Marinette was thankful for his honesty, and touched by the fact that he genuinely liked her. But she knew what he meant, and it still made her heart ache. “You still love someone else.” 

Adrien nodded. “I do. But that doesn’t mean that we still can’t—“ 

“Adrien,” Marinette interrupted gently, and she carefully took his hand in hers to show him that she wasn’t angry or upset with him. “I really like you too, and I’m happy with you, and I want you to be happy as well. But I also think that it’s not fair to string me along while you’re still in love with someone else.” 

“I’m not—“ 

“If the girl you loved told you that she wanted to be with you, what would you say?” 

Adrien hesitated at that, and Marinette wasn’t sure if he had noticed it, but he was squeezing her hand tightly. “She doesn’t feel that way about me.” 

“But if she did,” Marinette pressed, and the words made her stomach feel uneasy, but she had to ask. If it was Kagami that Adrien was still in love with, there was every chance that she could return to Paris and want to be with Adrien. If it was a girl that Marinette didn’t know... Well, she needed to know regardless. “If she told you that she loved you and wanted to be with you, what would you say?” 

A heavy silence followed, and Marinette wasn’t sure if she should feel upset that he wasn’t immediately telling her that he wouldn’t turn the girl down, or relieved that he wasn’t immediately telling her that he would turn the girl down. 

Marinette nodded finally, his silence an answer enough, and she gave his hand one last squeeze before she said, “It’s okay, Adrien. I want you to be happy, but I can’t keep doing this if you’re not—“ 

“I would turn her down,” Adrien stated, and Marinette blinked in surprise. He took her other hand in his and held them to his chest, watching her so earnestly that Marinette felt like she had to look away. 

“Adrien...” She began quietly. 

“You are so special to me, Marinette,” he continued, and she hoped that the dark corner would hide the bright blush burning her cheeks. “I feel like I’m myself when I’m with you; like I’m more than Adrien _Agreste.” _A short pause. “I don’t know if that even makes sense.” 

“Are you sure?” She asked, and she looked down at the ground as she said, “I don’t want you to feel like I’m forcing you into anything or—“ 

“You’re not,” Adrien assured her, and a soft press of his lips against the top of her head made her feel warm and giddy, and like she hadn’t woken up in his bed multiple times already. “I want to be with you, Marinette.” 

For a moment, she almost forgot that this was _Chat Noir _that she was talking to, and her face grew heated once more and her heart was pounding stupidly hard in her chest, and she was so mad that she was so head over heels for the damn mangy cat. Marinette pressed her forehead into his chest and breathed him in, smiling dumbly when his arms circled around her, and soon they would walk back into the bustling pub with Adrien’s arm tight around the small of her waist; both their faces red at their friend’s teasing. 

* * *

She was thankful that her waterproof suit was keeping her dry, but Ladybug’s hair was beyond soaked when she quietly perched on the balcony of Adrien’s apartment.

Marinette had wanted to go back to his apartment with him, and it had taken a great deal of will-power on her end, but she really didn’t want to mess anything up, and Adrien, ever being the gentleman (in public, at least) was more than happy to abide by her wishes. 

And so, now that she had resolved things with Adrien as Marinette, she needed to resolve things with him as Ladybug.

She tapped her knuckles lightly against the glass door as she bit down on her bottom lip, and although she could see the lights on inside behind the thin curtains, there was no answer. Ladybug swallowed, steeled her nerves, and knocked again — louder. She strained to listen, ear pressed up against the glass, and just as she was about to knock a third time, she heard the soft thump of his barefeet against the floor. Ladybug took a large step back, and (stupidly) smoothed wet hair off her forehead. 

When Adrien opened the door, he had a glossed over gaze in his eyes, and he was wearing a pair of grey track pants and a long-sleeved shirt. It wasn’t overly late, possibly only around eleven, but Ladybug assumed that he had been getting ready to go to bed. He blinked when he finally registered that she was standing there, and his eyes briefly flicked up to the rainy night sky before he stepped aside. 

“Come in,” Adrien said. 

Ladybug shook her head. “No, it’s—“ 

“Just come inside, Ladybug.” 

Ladybug rolled her lips together and did as she was told. 

He left the door open a crack, the soft _pitter-patter _of rain almost enough to soothe her nerves, and she threaded her fingers together as she quietly looked around the room. She had seen it before, of course — but Adrien didn’t know that. 

“How did you know where I live?” Adrien asked. 

“Small town,” Ladybug joked. Adrien didn’t smile. _Yikes. _She retrieved her yo-yo from her hip and swiped it open, wordlessly retrieving the cat miraculous and held it out for him. “I’m sorry. I was wrong.” 

Adrien stared down at the silver ring, his expression something that she had never seen before — so empty. “I’m not worthy of being Chat Noir, remember?” 

“If I had known who you were—“ 

“You wouldn’t have said it?” He finished. 

Ladybug hesitated. “I wouldn’t have been so cruel.” He still hadn’t made a move to touch the miraculous, but Ladybug refused to lower her arm. “Chat, I’m sorry. I was angry and upset, and I took it all out on you because I felt like it was only fair that you were as miserable as me.” 

Adrien’s eyebrow quirked at that, but his expression was so unreadable, and she _hated _it.

“I didn’t mean any of it.” Ladybug swallowed a thick lump lodged deep in her throat, and she could feel the tell-tale prickle of hot tears threatening to leak from the corners of her eyes. “I was only thinking of myself, and as your partner and friend, I should have tried harder to understand you. I’m so sorry, Chat.” 

He glanced away from her, lips pursed to one side, and he finally sighed; a big and deep breath as he titled his face towards the ceiling. “It’s feels weird hearing you call me Chat Noir when I’m Adrien.” 

The miraculous was beginning to feel incredibly heavy in her palm. “Would you prefer it if I called you Adrien instead?” 

He shook his head. “No.” 

Ladybug nodded, and she chewed nervously on her bottom lip when Adrien’s eyes lingered on the silver ring. “It’s yours,” she told him after a long moment. “You’re irreplaceable, Chat Noir. And you are more than worthy.” 

Colour bloomed beneath the soft skin of Adrien’s cheeks, and Ladybug wished that she could feel his bare fingertips through the material of her gloves as he reached out and carefully picked up the miraculous. “I told my Father that I’m Chat Noir,” Adrien said. 

Her breath caught in her throat, and Ladybug felt a cold chill run down her spine. She met his stare with her own, eyebrows drawn together beneath her mask, and she wet her lips before clarifying, “You told Hawkmoth your true identity?” 

Adrien nodded. “Yes.” 

Ladybug took a short moment to properly absorb the information, and then asked, “Why?” 

He visibly swallowed, and his gaze dropped to the miraculous he held in his open palm. Ladybug watched him carefully, body buzzing with a new sense of adrenaline which she was almost positive was her brain telling her to kick his ass. 

“I guess for a moment, I understood why he did it all,” Adrien admitted, those bright green eyes never straying from the cat miraculous. “It was when I went to visit him in prison for the first time. I even considered continuing his work.” 

“Adrien...” Ladybug said slowly. 

He blinked and looked up at her, and with a stabilising breath, he extended his arm and held the miraculous in his palm. “I wouldn’t do it,” Adrien promised her. “But you can take it back if you don’t trust me.” 

She felt torn: half of her wanted to beat the crap out of him and the other half wanted to hug him tight and never let go. She reached out, gloved finger-tips ghosting over the smooth metal of the ring, and Ladybug smiled as she closed his fingers over the miraculous. “It’s not up to me to decide. Besides, you’re Chat Noir; I trust you.” 

Ladybug saw the tell-tale shimmer of tears in his eyes, and she wanted to tell him that it was okay if he needed to cry. But considering that she had been holding back her own tears the whole time, she decided that she didn’t really have the right to tell him. 

“I love you,” Adrien admitted suddenly, voice thick with emotion, and Ladybug stuttered out a choker gasp. “You never believed me as Chat Noir, so I’m telling you as Adrien Agreste.”

Ladybug shook her head. “What?”

”I’ve always loved you, My Lady.” 

_Wait. So, this whole time..? _

She lunged forward without a second thought, her fingers dragging the soft material of his long-sleeved shirt into her tight fists as her mouth clashed against his, and Adrien’s fingers dove into her thick hair, burying deep into the roots. Ladybug bit down on his bottom lip, and Adrien groaned deep in his throat as his tongue licked against her teeth. And then it was over, and Adrien had his hands on her shoulders as he held her arms-length away. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice low and out of breath, and it stirred something deep between her thighs. “I can’t. I’m seeing someone and — I... Sorry — I don’t want to mess it up.” 

Oh_. Oh. _He was talking about_ her. Marinette her. _

“S-sorry!” Ladybug exclaimed and she jumped a large step backwards, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. “It was just — The moment, and I—“ 

“Sorry,” Adrien apologised again, and he was shaking his head frantically. “I didn’t mean to insinuate—“ 

“No!” Ladybug rushes to interject, and she waved her hands as she backed up towards the balcony door, flinching when she smacked straight into it. “No, this was totally my bad,” she continued as she slid the glass door open. 

“Ladybug—“ 

“I am so glad that we talked, Chat Noir,” she prattled on, and she was already fumbling for her yo-yo before she even stepped out onto the balcony. “Put that ring back on!” Ladybug demanded, and she squinted through the rain as she took off. 

But not before she glanced across and saw him wordlessly slipping the miraculous back onto his finger. 

* * *

In all honesty, Marinette was humiliated.

She felt like such an idiot, and she squeeled loudly as she smothered her face with a pillow. Tikki was sleeping soundly in a small cat bed high up atop her wardrobe. It had once been the home to some of her favourite plush teddies, but she had scooted them aside to create a soft and warm resting space for the small kwami.

Marinette rolled onto her stomach and dragged her knees up to her chest as she stuffed her face further and further into the pillow until she couldn’t press into the mattress anymore and her nose had begun to ache. 

Although, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. 

Adrien had been telling her the truth. He had turned down the girl he loved for her. The girl he had always loved... Who also happened to be her. She screamed into her pillow again, because it was all way too cliche — seriously? Marinette’s all-time crush Adrien Agreste was Chat Noir, who had been in love with Ladybug, who was also Marinette Dupain-Cheng. If there really was such thing as fate, Marinette had some choice words to share. 

A loud knock at her apartment door stole her away from her spiral of self-humiliation, and it woke Tikki from her slumber too. Marinette threw her a thumbs up, a gesture that everything was okay and that she could go back to sleep, and Marinette slipped off the mattress. 

Another knock, louder and more frantic, and Marinette shouted out, “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” 

Although, they had a lot of nerve banging down her door at nearly midnight. 

She swung open the door with little regard to her own personal safety (if it had been a thief or a serial killer, they could have launched into her apartment with no resistance) and she hardly cared that her hair was a disorganised mess from her recent pillow meltdown. 

But it was Adrien at her door, soaked head to toe from the rain, and he was looking at her as if he hadn’t eaten in days and she was the tastiest meal he had ever seen. It made her stomach flip and had wetness gathering between her thighs, and the fact that her body was reacting so strongly to just the mere sight of him was so incredibly ridiculous to her. 

But still, when Adrien asked, “Can I come inside?” 

Marinette nodded hurriedly and thought, _yes, Adrien. Yes, you can come inside as many times as you like. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof. honestly, oof. 
> 
> thanku for reading & leaving kudos/comments! pls continue to leave ur thoughts, i love reading them ! ❤️


	11. As the Sun Peeks Over the Horizon

They both wanted the same thing from each other, and they both knew that. 

So Marinette tugged him into her apartment, and closed and locked the door behind them, Adrien’s hands already planted firmly on her hips as he kissed the warm and soft skin between her neck and shoulder. His lips were wet with cold rainwater, but they warmed quickly, and Marinette’s hands reached back to grope his ass and pull him flush against her. His palms raked up the inside of her shirt, fingers strikingly cold as they crawled up the firm plane of her stomach and dipped beneath her bra to cup and squeeze her breasts. He ground into her ass, clothes damp against her own, but Marinette had already thought of a solution for that. 

She tugged her own shirt over her head first, Adrien following her lead quickly as he took a step backwards and pulled off his own. He spun her around then and kissed her hard on the mouth, teeth knocking and lips parted wide so their tongues could slip out and feel electric when they joined. He pressed her up against the wall, and when one of Marinette’s thighs lifted slightly so she could better grind into him, Adrien grabbed her under the knee and held it tight against his hip and rocked into her, the friction created by their clothes so unbearable in the most delicious way possible.

”I was trying to be responsible,” Marinette managed to make out between breathless pants, her fingers digging into the strong muscles in his shoulder blades. A particularly deep drag of his tented jeans against her crutch had her throwing her head back so quickly that it knocked against the wall. 

Adrien paused long enough to make sure that she was okay, and when Marinette’s nose crinkled and she laughed, a bright smile lit up his features. He brushed hair behind her ears and kissed her eyelids, and he slowly dragged his thumbs along her belly-button as he trailed towards the warm space between her thighs. 

“What? Not going to buy me dinner first?” Marinette quipped as his hand slipped underneath her panties and his fingers slowly stroked her cunt - hot and already wet just from his kisses alone. 

“Hey, I‘ll stop if you want,” Adrien teased, a tantalising slow drag of his tongue up the side of her throat as he slipped a single finger into her. 

Marinette licked her lips. “Who said anything about stopping?” 

When he chuckled at her, Marinette pouted, and her fingers circled and pressed into the skin of Adrien’s neck, now searingly warm, and she squeezed teasingly. Adrien tipped his head to meet her in the eyes, his own blown with lust, and he shot her a wicked grin that Marinette instantly recognised as belonging to Chat Noir. 

“Are you trying to choke me?” He asked, but the way he spoke in that low and amused voice made it entirely clear to Marinette that it wasn’t a question. “That’s adorable.” 

Adrien’s free hand left her knee, and Marinette hooked her leg around Adrien’s hips to keep it steady there. Instead, his single hand came up to wrap around her throat, and unlike her fingers, which only barely closed around the front half of his throat, Adrien’s long fingers curled completely around her slim neck, and he held her there - completely at his mercy. It made her even wetter, and Adrien could feel it, his cocky grin only widening as he pushed another finger into her and teased her slowly so that Marinette was bucking against his hand and going crazy over the lack of stimulation. 

“You’re not being fair,” Marinette whined, and having lost any chance of ever having control over him, she released her weak hold around his throat and gripped onto his jeans. 

“Sorry, Princess,” Adrien said, but he didn’t sound genuine at all. His thumb pressed gently against her clit, and Marinette jumped at the feeling. He grinned at her again, and Marinette felt pissed - how had she let him get away with this for so long? Mangy cat. “I’ll be serious now.” 

And he must have meant it, because his hand around her throat relaxed and he slipped his fingers outside of her, and as his hands dipped under her clothes to cup her bare ass, Marinette noticed that he was beginning to walk her towards the bedroom. 

_Wait. Tikki! _

Sure, Marinette told the kwami everything - but there were some things that she just didn’t want her little friend to witness. 

“Wait!” Marinette exclaimed and she grabbed Adrien’s forearm quickly, stopping him in his tracks. He raised his eyebrows at her, but he removed his hands from her body quickly, as if worried that he had offended her. “The couch...” She said slowly. “I want to do it on the couch.” 

Adrien’s eyes moved to the couch, and then back to her, and he honestly seemed a little confused, but he apparently decided that he didn’t have an issue with the location, because he popped the zipper of his jeans and kicked them aside. Marinette hurried to do the same with her own pants. 

Her body grew cold in only her bra and panties, but she was in Adrien’s warm embrace soon enough, and as they toppled back onto the couch, Marinette clambered on top of him and licked and bit and suckled at the side of his throat. He bucked into her, his hands firm on her hips so he could push her hips flush against his. She ground herself into him, the wetness from her cunt seeping through the cotton of her underwear and onto Adrien’s, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to feel embarrassed about it. Besides, a wet patch had already gathered on Adrien’s tenting boxers, damp from his leaking arousal. 

“I have a question,” Adrien said, his voice was guttural and low, and made Marinette’s stomach do flips. 

“Is this really the time?” She asked him, a quick quirk of her eyebrow as she leaned back to look at him, but then she was kissing his lips again and licking against the warmth of his tongue. 

“How long have you liked me?” 

That caused Marinette to pause, her hips halting from their mindless rocking so she could focus fully on Adrien. His eyes were still glazed and half-lidded, still apparently giddy and high with desire, and he took her silence as an opportunity to swoop in and press wet kisses to her chest as he unclasped her bra and tossed it to the side. She looked down at him, her fingers threading through his thick, blonde hair as his lips kissed and sucked at the soft skin of her breasts.

He tilted his chin upwards so he could look at her, and he smiled boyishly. “What?” Adrien asked. “I’m curious.” 

Marinette realised then, in the midst of his hot mouth marking up her chest, that she had never actually confessed to Adrien that she had liked him for years. Sure, they had both admitted that they liked each other, and they’d slept together several times now which was a clear indicator of her feelings for him, but those feelings went way beyond just sexual attraction. Marinette was pretty sure that Adrien already knew that, but she hadn’t properly told him. 

She let her fingers weave deep into the roots of Adrien’s hair, and she thought, _‘well, what is there to lose?’_

”Since school,” Marinette admitted, feeling embarrassed despite having Adrien’s hands dipping into her panties to cup her ass. 

This time, Adrien paused, and he removed his mouth from Marinette’s chest to sit up straight and meet her at eye-level, an unusual expression on his face - disbelieving, almost. 

“You’re kidding,” he said, eyebrow quirking upwards as he searched her face for any signs of teasing. 

“No, it’s the truth,” Marinette assured him, but her voice had grown quit, unsure as she spilled the secret of her unrequited love to her childhood crush. “I liked you in school, but I never had the courage to tell you. And besides, you always thought of me as just a friend.” 

_‘Because you were in love with my other-self_,’ Marinette thought inwardly, because if Adrien had really been telling her (at least, the her that was Ladybug) the truth, then Marinette had quite literally been her own rival. 

Adrien’s thumbs brushed delicately against the apples of her cheeks, and a slow, distant smile came over his lips. “How could I not have noticed?” He mused. 

“Because you loved someone else,” Marinette reminded him quietly, and when the cool air began to chill her skin, she leaned closer into him so her breasts pressed snug against his chest. “It’s okay. I got you in the end, didn’t I?” 

He paused, his expression unreadable for a long moment, and he sounded like he was far away from the present when he whispered so softly that Marinette almost missed it, “You remind me of her a little bit.” 

Her heart jumped in her throat, and even though she knew exactly why Adrien could see similarities between her and Ladybug, Marinette licked her lips and said, “You know, most girls don’t like being compared to ex-loves.” 

Adrien blinked then, suddenly back in the moment, and he even shook his head, as if trying to banish the thought from his brain. Marinette couldn’t help but feel guilty. “So...” An abrupt subject change, but Marinette didn’t at all mind. “You’ve liked me since we were kids. So, even when you were dating Luka?” 

Marinette’s eyes narrowed at his shit-eating grin. “I actually really liked Luka, thank you very much, Mister Narcissist,” she quipped.

“Not as much as me though, right?”

“Hm,” she hummed, and she rolled her hips, Adrien’s hands instantly flinging to her hips. Marinette relished in the way his grin dropped and morphed into a low groan. She carded her fingers through his hair, her fingernails dragging softly against his scalp, and Adrien’s eyes rolled into his head. “Maybe,” Marinette told him softly, teasingly, as her lips ghosted over his, and she pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

His eyes fluttered open, and Marinetge grinned at him as his hips bucked against hers, desperate to be close. “Need me to prove it, Princess?”

Her stomach fluttered at the realisation that Chat Noir has also called her princess, and it made her feel special - giddy and excited, and like she wanted to give herself over to him completely. 

Marinette shook her head, sighing at the jolt of pleasure that shot up her spine as she rubbed herself against him. “You don’t need to,” she admitted, and she was almost certain that his cock twitched underneath her at her words. “You’ve got me however you want me, Sunshine.” 

Adrien grinned wickedly at the confession, and Marinette felt like she should have been ashamed at how easy she was for him, but she decided that she didn’t give a damn. It had gotten to the point where he could ask her to do just about anything and she’d obey without question. 

“Want to ride me and see who can make who come first?” 

That alone had Marinette buzzing, and she was still trying to wrap her head around this new Adrien, but she didn’t mind his confidence at all, and she was already lifting herself up to drag her panties down to her knees as Adrien lifted his ass to shove his boxers down, and she ground herself against his cock. He was hard and hot, and they both hissed out when his dick dragged through her wet folds, the engorged tip bumping against Marinette’s clit. 

“God,” Marinette breathed through her teeth as she slowly sank down on him, filling her and stretching her out completely. 

Adrien’s lips pulled against her throat, his teeth grazing hard against her skin as he thrusted into her shallowly. His arms snaked around the small of her waist, holding her close to him as her hips rolled steadily until she grew frustrated with Adrien’s shallow thrusts, and her fingers dug into the pillows behind his head. She quickened her pace, bottom lip captive between her teeth as she took matters into her own hands and lifted herself up, and then dropped back down to fuck herself deeper and harder on Adrien’s cock. He laughed lightly at that, and Marinette raised an eyebrow. 

“If you’ve got enough breath to laugh, you’re obviously not trying hard enough,” she taunted. 

“Maybe I’m just going easy on you,” Adrien quipped quickly, as smooth as ever, and if Marinette was going to shoot back with another witty remark, Adrien didn’t give her the opportunity to, because his mouth was hot on hers, and he bit down on her lower lip, never hard enough to break the delicate skin. 

She moaned into his open mouth, her body warm and electric and tingling all over, and in this position, that sensitive bundle of nerves of hers was rubbing up against Adrien’s pubic bone, setting every one of her nerves alight. As if he could read her thoughts, Adrien slipped his index and middle fingers into his mouth, and then he lowered them to rub tight circles into her clit. Tears burned in the corners of her eyes, and she felt the tight pull of pleasure swirling deep in her gut. 

Adrien peppered wet kisses along her jawbone, and Marinette’s thighs began to tremble as the faint rumblings of her impending orgasm began to build in her lower stomach. Her fingers danced against his jawline so she could pull his head up and watch his facial expressions as she rode him - his cheeks tinged pink from exertion and his green eyes half-lidded but sparkling brightly nonetheless. He was watching her too, his gaze boring into her own, and their noses bumped gently when Marinette moved in for a tender kiss, which Adrien returned just as earnestly. 

Marinette loved him so much. She loved him with her entirety, and one day she would tell him with her own voice, but for now she tried her best to convey it through her body; through her sweet kisses and her hot tongue, through the way she held him tight against her, and the way their bodies fit so perfectly against one another. 

_Complete. _Adrienmade her feel a sense of completeness that Marinette didn’t even know existed. 

“Mari,” Adrien mumbled into her parted lips, her tongue slipping out to brush delicately against his, and he grunted at the feeling of her cunt gripping him like a vice, unwilling to let him go. 

She cupped his cheeks, and Adrien mimicked her movements, his fingers damp but most welcome as they brushed her cheek-bones, and they pressed their foreheads together, eyes half-lidded but never closed in fear of missing out on the other’s blissed expressions. 

This was more than just sex, Marinette realised; _felt_ more than just pleasure in each other’s bodies. She was sure that Adrien felt the same way by the way he touched and held her, chests flushed so their hearts beat hard together; by the way he looked at her as he rocked into her again and again and again. It almost made her want to cry, and for a moment, Marinette genuinely wondered if her tears were a result of her feelings or her growing orgasm.

Marinette came first, her toes curling as she went rigid atop of Adrien, fingertips pressing into the soft skin near his ears. Adrien rode her through her climax, thrusts rapidly growing clumsy as he chased after his own high, and she felt his hot breath against her lips as he came with a guttural groan and fucked into Marinette one last time, holding his hips flush against hers so he could empty into her as deeply as possible. 

Their mixed arousals stuck to the insides of Marinette’s thighs and Adrien’s groin, and for a short while they sat without saying a word, until Adrien’s cock began to soften inside of her, and she winced at the unusual feeling. Marinette thought that she really ought to have more stamina - she was Ladybug, after all; but there was something about sex with Adrien that always left her spent and satisfied. 

Adrien pressed soft kisses to her forehead and temples, and Marinette’s arms slipped around his shoulders to keep him close. 

“I won,” he said finally, his voice croaky and low, but when Marinette looked up at him, there was no cockiness or attitude. He was smiling earnestly at her, and Marinette’s heart fluttered at the expression. 

“Yeah, you did,” Marinette agreed, because she really didn’t mind that she had finished before him, and the sweet look on his face was too pure to disagree with. “Want to wash up?” She asked. 

Adrien hummed in agreement, and he lowered his nose to the side of Marinette’s throat to take a deep breath. “Yeah,” he said with a gentle kiss to her neck. “Let’s have a bath.” 

* * *

It was weirdly intimate bathing with Adrien, considering that he had quite literally been inside her only a few moments earlier. 

The water was warm and soapy with bubbles, smelling of lavender and honey - a gift that she had actually received from Nino, of all people. It had been a throwaway gift, something that he had scrabbled together for her nineteenth birthday when she had suddenly decided to throw a small get-together. Nonetheless, Marinette had gotten some good use out of it. 

Adrien sat in front of her, his muscles loose and relaxed as Marinette softly carded her fingers through his damp hair and brushed her thumbs against the base of his head. He hummed at the feeling; welcoming her gentle touch. 

They were both sleepy, from their promiscuous activities and from staying up into the very early hours of the morning, and the hazy, fuzzy feeling in Marinette’s head made her feel like she were in another dimension. 

“What did you think?” Adrien asked unexpectedly, his voice quiet as it echoed off the walls of the small bathroom. 

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked him, and she carefully tilted his head backwards so she could collect water in her cupped hands and wash the shampoo out of his hair. 

“When they revealed that my father was Hawkmoth on the news.” 

Quiet ensued, and Marinette listened to the steady _drip, drip, drip_ of water leaking from the bathtub faucet. 

“Well...” Marinette began, unsure about what Adrien was really asking. “I don’t know. I guess I was surprised—“ 

“What did you think about me?” Adrien asked. 

Ah. There it was. 

“If you’re asking if I blamed you, I didn’t.” She paused, fingers wandering to his tense shoulders. “I still don’t. No one does.” 

There was another moment of silence, and Marinette waited as Adrien sat still in the tub - unmoving, as if he were a statue. “I didn’t turn him in right away,” Adrien admitted, and Marinette pressed her cheek to the soft and wet skin that stretched over his shoulder-blades. “I must have known for a week. But I didn’t tell anyone.” 

“He’s your father,” Marinette said. “I think that if I had been in your shoes and it was one of my parents, I wouldn’t have wanted to turn them in either.” 

She felt Adrien nod at that, as if he were silently agreeing with her, but he didn’t say anything more. Marinette hadn’t really thought about it before, but Chat Noir had been the one to come to her and tell her his suspicions about Gabriel Agreste. She had always wondered where he had gotten the idea - now she knew why. 

“I just feel like if I had been a better son—“ 

“Don’t,” Marinette told him, gentle but stern, firm in the fact that she would absolutely not let Adrien blame himself for something out of his control. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Your actions have no relation to Gabriel being Hawkmoth.” 

Adrien’s fingers fidgeted in the water, the ripples lapping up their stomachs, and there was a short pause before he finally swallowed and said, “I know.” 

“You’re a good person, Adrien,” Marinette whispered into the side between his neck and shoulder, and she planted a warm and soft kiss there. “Don’t doubt that for a second.” 

Marinette reached around to hold his hand, and he wove his fingers through hers, his lips warm when he brought their joined hands to his mouth to kiss. And they sat there, together, basking in the feeling of each other’s warmth, and bodies, and breaths, until the water grew cooler and they retreated under the sheets of Marinette’s bed as the sun peeked over the horizon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was feeling a soft chapter ok 
> 
> as always, thank u sm for kudos & comments （＾◇＾）you guys are honestly so awesome


	12. Blueberry Pancakes

Adrien mumbled something low and incoherent in his sleep, and it gently stirred Marinette out of her slumber. She stopped and listened, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to properly gather what she was actually hearing. He mumbled a second time, and Marinette snorted out a soft laugh, and then she turned on her side to face him properly. 

Carefully, not wanting to wake him, she traced a gentle thumb over his brow bone, stopping at his temple for a short moment, until she threaded her fingers through his hair and brought her lips to his forehead to kiss him there carefully. She felt warm, and comfortable, and safe with his arms draped gently over her hip, and Marinette thought that she would never _ever _want to wake up next to anyone else other than Adrien. It made her stomach flip and her heart flutter; the realisation of just how much she really loved him, and she counted the faint smattering of freckles that lightly dusted his cheeks and nose. He hadn't often had freckles in his pictures - Marinette assumed that he must have photo-shopped them or covered them with make-up.

Marinette found them utterly charming. 

Things would go well this time. There would be no skipping out on breakfast, or leaving in the middle of pancakes being cooked. No, this time Marinette would have him sit down at the small island counter in her tiny university apartment, and she would feed him pancakes or waffles, eggs and bacon - whatever he damn well wanted, he would damn well have. He meant so much to her; was a huge part of her life (much huger than she could have ever imagined as a teenage girl), and Marinette wanted him so much that it made her chest ache when she thought about it. 

"I love you," Marinette whispered into his hairline, and she breathed him in, lingering traces of her lavender shampoo in his hair. It was a nice feeling, a fuzzy feeling, to smell herself on him. "My sweet prince," she added with a quiet chuckle, the corners of her eyes creasing as she smiled fondly at him. It really was uncanny - the resemblance between Adrien and Chat Noir, and she felt ashamed that she hadn't made the connection sooner. She saw Chat Noir in the dip of his nose, in the curve of his lips, and in the bright candy-green of his eyes. 

She swiped her thumb over the apple of his cheek, and she watched as his eyelids fluttered softly, his eyelashes long and thick, and enough to make Marinette feel even the slightest bit envious. 

When he finally opened his eyes, Adrien smiled lazily, and the tips of his fingers pressed gently into the warm skin at Marinette’s hip. "Good morning," he mumbled, voice still thick with sleep, and he cleared his throat as he pushed loose hair off his forehead. 

"Good morning," Marinette echoed, and she tip-toed her fingers over his shoulder, down his arm, soft and feather-light, and leaving goosebumps in their wake. Adrien watched her with half-lidded eyes, and he brought his own hand to her face so he could play with her hair and brush his fingers over her jawline. “Do you want some breakfast?” 

Adrien mumbled again, and he ducked his head into her chest and held himself there to bask in her warmth. “I just want to lay in with you for a little while longer.” 

Marinette smiled. “Okay.” 

He craved physical affection — Marinette was almost entirely sure of that. He had been deprived of it his entire childhood after his mother had died, and Marinette could more-or-less imagine how distant Gabriel Agreste must have been. Apparently he was more invested in capturing two teenagers than caring for his only child. 

“We could go out to eat,” Adrien suggested, his voice muffled and breath hot on her breasts. “Like an official first date.” 

She paused, fingers stilling in his hair as she clarified, “But we’ve already had a first date?” 

This time, Adrien hesitated. “Yeah, but...” He lifted his head so he could look her in the eyes, and he pressed a soft kiss to her clavicale before continuing, “I thought that it could be our first date as... You know, a couple.” 

Marinette blinked. 

It took her brain a few moments to process, but when it finally clicked, her heart leaped into her throat as she sat up suddenly, Adrien’s head bouncing against the mattress. 

“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” Marinette asked. 

The tips of Adrien’s cheeks were tinged with a bright shade of pink, but he tried to act cheeky as he quipped, “Only if you’re going to say yes.” 

She felt light; so light, and warm, and happy, and was filled with a joy that she was sure she had never felt before. Marinette had dreamed of the moment when Adrien Agreste asked her out over and over again when she was a teenager, and now that it was really happening, she couldn’t seem to form words. 

So Marinette kissed him instead.

She kissed him to show him how much she cared for him; how much she loved him; how much she wanted to be with him and only him, because _god. _Yes_. _

Adrien’s fingertips pressed into the soft skin at her waist, and he pulled her close so he could hitch her thigh over his hip and grind into her. She’d leant him some of her own underwear after they’d bathed last night - Adrien, with his modelling career, had apparently worn women’s underwear before. 

Marinette had asked him about that. 

Adrien hadn’t answered her.

Still, as much as Marinette loved the idea of Adrien wearing her underwear... Well, they were women’s underwear and not built to contain the male anatomy. Because of that, Adrien’s hardening cock was buldging heavily against the underwear and slipping out of the thin elastic, and as much as Marinette enjoyed Adrien’s soft whines at the lack of friction, she couldn’t help but feel bad for him. 

He looked so painfully hard, his eyebrows furrowed tightly as he bucked against the dampening fabric of Marinette’s underwear. 

Her fingers drifted down his chest, and she was almost certain that Adrien hadn’t even realised where her probing hands was going until her fingertips brushed against the blonde hair that trailed beneath his belly button.

Adrien moaned out loudly when her fingers danced carefully along the underside of his cock, and he breathed heavily against her chest as he looked down to watch her curious hand. She drew a soft thumb along the head, hot and beading with precome, and she pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead as her fingers curled around him and she began a steady rhythm. 

“O-Oh,” Adrien murmured between shaky breaths, and he grinned boyishly when he said, “I'll take that as a yes, then.”

Marinette met his grin, and she licked her lips as she dipped her head to press a kiss against his chest; hot kitten-licks down the hard muscles of his stomach, and Adrien’s hips bucked as her lips kissed against the space above his cock. She blew a warm breath against the sensitive tip, and she carefully trailed the forked vein on the underside of his cock before mouthing at the base of him — Adrien’s moans like music to her ears.

His fingers brushed through her thick hair, gathering it in his hands to pull away from her face so he could watch her, and Marinette looked up at him, her dark eyelashes low against her cheekbones as she pressed a delicate kiss to the top of his cock, and then slowly took him into her mouth. 

Adrien hissed, but he was trying to keep himself from fucking into her mouth. Marinette had half the mind to tell him not to worry about it — that she didn’t mind it if he was a little rough with her — but that would also mean that she’d have to remove her mouth from his cock, and she wasn’t ready to move away just yet. 

Her fingers were firm at his base, pumping him steadily as she worked her tongue around him, curling and flattening and stroking him to pull out those delicious moans and groans of pleasure. She watched him, her own delight coming from the blissful expressions on Adrien’s face as he tried to keep his gaze on her steady; but he was battling against his own pleasure and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. 

“Fu-ck,” Adrien drawled out, his fingertips pressing firmly into Marinette’s skull. She hollowed her cheeks and sucked hard as her tongue flattened and dragged against the prominent vein on the underside of his cock, and he came suddenly and abruptly without warning. 

Marinette held her lips around him securely, eyes never straying from his face as he emptied down the back of her throat. She swallowed around him to clean up the mess, and pulled back with a loud gasp and a self-satisfied grin. 

Adrien’s chest heaved as he fought for breath, and as Marinette carefully crawled up besides him again, he watched her with half-lidded eyes. 

“You’re amazing,” Adrien told her. He wiped at her bottom lip with his thumb, and Marinette thought that she probably should have felt embarrassed, but when Adrien slipped his finger into his mouth, Marinette felt a twist of pleasure deep in her gut. He sat up, shoving the sheets down as he reached for Marinette's knees, and she giggled, fingers carding through his hair as he settled snugly between her thighs. 

"You don't have to do that," Marinette told him, and to prove that she meant it, she began to sit up. Adrien, with a cocked eyebrow, snatched for her fleeing ankles and tugged her back down the mattress. Her lips parted in surprise, and her hips bucked involuntarily when Adrien's thumbs rolled rough circles into the inside of her thighs. 

"And if I want to, Princess?" Adrien teased, and Marinette felt heat rush to her cheeks. She had a rather vivid thought of a familiar leather-clad hero calling her that nickname, and Marinette imagined how it might feel to have him whisper that to her quietly in the night; his gloved-fingers pinning her wrists against the wall, claws tapping carefully against her skin as he nuzzled into her neck. Marinette hadn't ever thought about Chat Noir like that before - save from the odd dream or two when she first hit puberty - but now that she knew that Chat and Adrien were one in the same, she'd discovered a newfound attraction to her superhero partner. She couldn't help but feel guilty about it - how she had only seen him that way after she'd found out that he was Adrien; and in all honesty, it was fucking with her mind. For so long, Marinette had viewed them as separate people, and although there were the same people, she loved them both. 

"Princess," Marinette echoed quietly, and she met Adrien's gaze as he pressed a wet and open-mouth kiss high up in inner thigh, so close that she could feel his warm breath on the wet material of her underwear. 

"_Princess," _Adrien said, fingers slow and teasing as he tugged her panties down just enough so he could drag his tongue along her folds. She was wet already, bustling with arousal and giddy from Adrien's lips -- high-strung and ready for release just from his touch alone. His teeth nicked against that sensitive knot of nerves, and Marinette's hips canted upwards with a long moan, and she could _feel _Adrien's smile as he sucked and kissed and licked with no intention of slowing down to relieve her overstimulated cunt. Her fingers were tight in his blonde hair, tugging and pulling as she rode through the onslaught, thighs trembling and chest heaving as her impending climax pulled and pulled tightly in her gut. 

"A-Adrien," She gasped, the back of her head pressing tightly into the pillow, and her knees squeezed against Adrien's shoulders as her climax bubbled over, and in the heat of the moment, she babbled, "Be rough with me_, please."_

"What?" He asked, surprised, and when he began to move from in-between her thighs, Marinette knotted her fingers tightly in his hair and pulled him back. 

"Hit me, slap me, anything - _please_, Adrien." Tears were burning her eyes, the stimulation growing painful, and her back arched off the mattress as she sought the heat of Adrien’s lips. “Please, please, I'm so close." 

There was no hesitation. 

Adrien bit into the soft flesh of her inner thigh, and Marinette cried out as her climax tore through her body, hard and unrelenting as her legs shook and her fingers tore at Adrien's blonde hair. His lips returned to her cunt, kissing and licking her as she rode out the aftermath of her orgasm, and she blinked the stars out of her vision as she finally came down from her high. She realised that Adrien was kissing the bruised skin where he had kissed her, and Marinette released her grip on his hair, opting instead to gently run her hands over his head. 

When she looked down at him, Adrien was watching her, green eyes bright and sparkling so beautifully, and he pressed another delicate kiss to the bite-mark on her thigh before he rose to his knees and crawled over her. He kissed her lips softly, gently, and then her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her forehead; Marinette giggled and pressed her fingertips into the base of his spine, just above his hips, and she pressed her face into the mattress to escape his relentless kisses. 

“What are you doing?” She squealed, knees pressing into his sides as his warm breath tickled the sensitive skin behind the shell of her ear. 

“Kissing the sin out of you,” Adrien retorted, a dopey smile on his face as he planted one last kiss above her eyebrow, and then he sat up so he straddled her hips. 

”Oh, really?” Marinette smiled. “Is it so bad for a woman to let off steam?” 

”Hey, I’m not judging,” he quipped, and that devilish grin was back, green eyes impossibly bright and carefree. “Just didn’t expect sweet-heart Marinette Dupain-Cheng to be a masochist.” 

She feigned a punch to his crotch, and she laughed when Adrien caught and held her wrists in his hands and pretended to bite into them. 

_She loved him, loved him, loved him. _

“You’re such an idiot,” Marinette told him, adoration heavy in the way she spoke, and Adrien smiled as he kissed her knuckles. 

She loved him so much. 

She hoped that when she told him the truth about who she was, that he could love her that much too. 

* * *

They settled down in a small cafe not too far away from the university, sat down next to one another at a small table pressed up against a large glass window so they could look out into the bustling Parisian street. 

Marinette’s thumb prodded at the bruise that blotched the pale skin of her inner thigh, and Adrien glanced across at her. 

“Stop playing with it,” he told her, but she could tell that he wasn’t really bothered by her fascination with the mark. 

Still, she clasped her fingers in her lap and looked across at him. “Make me,” Marinette told him. 

Adrien’s eyebrow twitched at that, and a slow smile spread over Marinette’s mouth. He would make her — later today, when they were alone again and his more dominant side would rear up. He clicked his tongue at her, and Marinette shrugged as she slipped a spoonful of blueberry pancake between her lips. 

It was noon by the time they slipped into the cozy cafe, and although it was mostly quiet, they still received the odd few glances and whispers in their direction. Adrien seemed vigilantly aware of it, but every time he caught Marinette’s worried glance, he smiled at her and brushed away her concerns. She supposed that it was only natural for Adrien to be the centre of all the gossip. After all, it was Adrien Agreste — the young boss of the Gabriel fashion line (although in more recent years, he had modelled for other famous worldwide fashion brands and labels). Despite his time away from Paris, he was still the city’s most desired eligible bachelor (_was, _Marinette reminded herself, because he wasn’t an eligible bachelor anymore). 

And of course, there was the matter of him being Hawkmoth’s son. 

He had been whisked away almost immediately after Gabriel Agreste had been revealed to be Paris’ most notorious supervillain. And now he was back, after so many long years. It was only natural that there would be gossip upon his arrival, and Marinette hoped that with time the chatter would die away and it would all be forgotten. 

She nudged his side with her elbow and smiled when he looked across at her, blue eyes searching his for a sign that he wasn’t okay; that they needed to get out and escape to somewhere where no one would recognise him. 

Marinette understood why Adrien hadn’t wanted to give up his miraculous. It was easier for him to be someone other than himself. 

“Eat up,” she told him as she poked her own fork at his plate, eyebrows raised as she prodded his half-uneaten pancake. 

“I’ve got a small stomach,” Adrien defended, and even though Marinette was sure that it was supposed to be a joke, she couldn’t help not finding it funny. He’d filled up at least; wasn’t that same slim boy who’s wrists had been the same size as hers. 

God, he’d been through so much. Marinette wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and hide him away from the world. 

“_Adri-kins_!” 

Marinette winced at the familiar shrill voice, and she’d barely at the time to turn around in her chair before a flash of blonde hair smacked her across the face and Adrien was being entirely consumed by Chloe Bourgeois. 

“Hey, Chlo,” Adrien greeted politely, ever the gentleman, and when Marinette finally recovered from the attack of blonde hair, she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. 

“You’ve been here almost two weeks now and you haven’t even seen me yet!” Chloe protested, bright blue eyes tearing up as she held Adrien at arms-length and glared at him. “Is that how you treat your first ever best friend?” 

Marinette rolled her eyes. 

Chloe must have sensed that, because her gaze snapped to her, eyes narrowing as she sniffed, “Oh. You’re here too, Dupain-Cheng.” 

“Nice to see you too, Chloe,” Marinette said. 

Although she and Chloe weren’t necessarily friends, Marinette didn’t _dislike _her. She had definitely matured over the years and seemed to understand that the world didn’t actually revolve around her, and Marinette was glad for that — but it didn’t mean that she wanted to be friends with her. After Hawkmoth’s capture, Chloe Bourgeois travelled a lot here and there, always returning back to Paris to learn the ropes of running her father’s hotel, but she had certainly gotten more pleasant over the years. 

The last Marinette heard, Chloe had been schmoozing with a young, rich, and handsome businessman in Hawaii. 

“Chloe, you got your latte, now let’s go.” A second voice, also familiar, but very unexpected, Marinette thought. 

Luka Coffaine hadn’t seemed to notice just who Chloe had stopped to talk to until he approached them, and he blinked in surprise. 

Chloe waved him off. “Yeah, yeah,” she snapped. “I’m just saying hello, don’t get your guitar strings in a twist.” 

This time, Luka rolled his eyes, and he shifted the strap of his guitar case over his shoulder as he looked down at Marinette and smiled. “Hey, Marinette.” 

“Hey...” She started slowly, a quick glance in Chloe’s direction and she cocked an eyebrow. “New friend?” 

An amused smile danced on his lips. “She’s asked me to come play at her father’s hotel on the weekend. It’s got to be perfect, of course.” 

“Of course,” Marinette echoed, and a nudge against her knee had her looking over at Adrien. He was watching her, Chloe hanging off his shoulders as she prattled on, and even though he smiled politely, Marinette thought that he didn’t look very comfortable. “Adrien and I are just having a brunch date.” 

“Date?” Chloe repeated, and when she backed away, Adrien noticeably scooted closer towards Marinette. 

“Yeah,” Adrien said, his hand finding Marinette’s and squeezing it close to his thigh. “Mari and I are together now.” 

“Together?” Chloe blinked, and although she appeared stunned by the news, she managed to maintain a smile. “Oh, like all the other girls you got _together _with on your travels?” Adrien’s grip slackened in Marinette’s grasp. Chloe tossed blonde hair over her shoulder and winked. “I’ll see you around, Adri-kins.” 

She sauntered out of the cafe, Luka wincing as he apologised to the both of them on Chloe’s behalf, and then he jogged after her. 

Marinette considered that perhaps Chloe was still a bitch, after all. 

Slowly, Adrien began, “You know it’s not—“ 

“Adrien,” she said, and she gently squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I learned very early on in my life not to think too much into what Chloe says.” She bumped his shoulder with her own, and smiled as she looked up into those sweet, candy-green eyes. “I trust you.” 

His shoulders visibly relaxed at her words, and Marinette smiled as Adrien nodded. There was a short moment of pause, and Marinette picked up her fork again as Adrien asked, “Did you get Luka to... You know. Was he rough?” 

Marinette choked on her own breath, and she stared at him, lips parted in surprise. “D-Do you really want to know about my sex-life with my ex?” When Adrien continued to watch her, brows furrowed intently, she swallowed and told him, “No.” 

“Did you want him to?” 

Marinette’s cheeks burned. “Why do you want to know?” 

Adrien’s hand gripped the base of her chair and he pulled her towards him; his ability to so easily move her weight so alluring to Marinette. 

“I want to know what you like,” he said, breath hot on her cheek, and despite their morning activities, Marinette felt the heavy swirling of desire deep in her loin. “Do you like it like that? Rough?” 

Marinette squeezed her thighs together. She envisioned Adrien leaning over her, his hand on her head as he pressed the side of her face into the cold surface of a kitchen counter, against the window, into the mattress — Marinette didn’t care as long as his body was heavy on hers as he fucked into her relentlessly. He could bind her wrists, keep her arms secured above her head as his lips left hot and hungry trails along her skin. 

“Adrien...” Marinette breathed, and she could hardly find it in herself to be mad with him when he chuckled and pressed an innocent kiss to her temple. 

“I’ll do it,” Adrien said, and she looked at him, face still flushed even when he leaned back and fiddled with the fork in the table. “If that’s what you like, I’ll do it for you.” 

And he did.

* * *

The lingerie was new. 

Something that Marinette had brought on a whim with no intention of even using it in the bedroom, but she decided that this was as good a time as ever. 

Adrien seemed to appreciate it; spending a long time running his fingers over the delicate white lace as she stood in front of him. He had a tall mirror fixed to the wall, and that’s where he had decided to have her — her facing the mirror with him behind her, so Adrien could watch as he slowly dipped his fingers beneath the lace and teased her in the places just inches away from where she really wanted them. 

He hadn’t said whether or not he was knew to this. Marinette couldn’t quite determine from his actions, but when he tied her wrists together behind her back with a woolen bind from her dressing gown, he tied it just tight enough to keep in place, but loose enough that she could easily break out of it if she wanted to.

Marinette decided that for now, that was okay. 

His hands left her body for a long moment, and Marinette tipped back her head as his mouth sought the sweet spot between her neck and shoulder. Her eyes slipped close, and when Adrien’s fingers returned to tip-toe down her stomach, she felt leather. 

“Gloves?” Marinette asked curiously, and she smiled as Adrien hummed against her throat. If Adrien has known that she was aware of his other identity, she might have teased him about the choice of material. 

He was fully dressed still, and Marinette knew why. He was punishing her; refusing to allow her skin-to-skin contact, which Adrien knew would eventually drive her crazy, but that was all apart of the fun. Whether or not Adrien was into this, he was giving it a go for her, and it was enough for Marinette to let him play his little game. 

Adrien nudged her knees apart, and Marinette bit down on her bottom lip as one gloved hand settled down over her eyes to blind her. She was so eagerly aware like this — attuned to every single one of Adrien’s touches. 

“Is this okay?” He asked her quietly, his warm breath causing her skin to prickle with goosebumps. 

Marinette nodded and swallowed, a breathy, “Yeah,” as she leaned back into his form body. 

A firm smack between her thighs and Marinette lurched forward, knees trembling as the sensitive skin tingled. She pressed her ass into his hardening cock, and found her body already yearning for his touch as she said, “I think you have done this before, haven’t you?” 

Adrien kissed the side of her neck, and she felt his smile against her skin as he smacked her again, the tips of his fingers rough against her clit, and Marinette cried out loudly. 

“Okay?” He asked her again, so quietly that Marinette had almost missed it. 

“Yes, Chat,” she sighed. 

There was a long pause after that, and for a short moment, Marinette considered asking him to drop this play so he would just touch her already. He was too good at keeping her waiting, and Marinette was growing too restless too quickly. 

“What?” Adrien asked, and even when he dropped his hand from her eyes, she kept them closed. 

“Yes,” Marinette hummed. “I said yes.” 

“No...” He started slowly, and it was then that Marinette realised that something wasn’t right. Adrien had stepped away from her, and Marinette finally opened her eyes to look at him, a concerned glance over her shoulder. Was he not comfortable with this after all? “You called me Chat.” 

Marinette blinked. 

Adrien’s eyebrows were hard and furrowed, his eyes suspicious as he watched her turn to face him. Her mouth opened, and then closed, and Marinette felt a pain in her chest because Adrien did _not _look happy as he stared at her. 

_Oh._

”Marinette?” Adrien pressed.

_Shit_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> （＾◇＾） here we go here we go  
still deciding how much angst to go... hm.. if any at all..? 
> 
> again THANK YEW for reading/kudos/comments i love and appreciate them very much! 
> 
> also i must apologise for the delay in providing an update ~~ i’m back at work now that primary school has started again


	13. Amongst One Hundred Take-Out Menus

“No I didn’t,” Marinette said dumbly. 

Adrien blinked at her, eyebrows raising as he stared, incredulous. “Yes, Marinette,” he told her. “You did.” 

_Shit._

It was hard to get a sense of what he was thinking. Marinette’s mind reeled, tongue twitching desperately in her mouth as she searched for something to say, but the words refused to come. 

“Oh...” Marinette finally said, because it was the only thing she could even think of saying, and she knew that she would have to tell Adrien the truth eventually, but she hadn’t wanted it to be like this. “Did I?” 

She was stalling. 

Adrien knew that. 

“Why’d you call me Chat?” Adrien asked. 

Marinette had half the mind to say that she didn’t, but she knew that wasn’t going to get her anywhere. 

“Because,” she told him slowly. Her mouth was dry and her heart hammered in her chest, and she told herself that this was only Adrien - _Chat Noir, _for God’s sake - and that she could be honest with him. It would be okay because of the kind person he was. Amongst the ramblings in her head, her tongue automatically spat out, “I’ve got a Chat Noir kink.” 

She wanted to punch herself in the face. 

Adrien blinked at her - actually blinked as if he had misheard her - and he sucked in a deep breath as he frowned. “I...” He began, and then, “—What?” 

“I—I mean... You look just like him!” Marinette rambled on, the words slipping from her mouth like vomit, and she felt a heavy pain her chest. 

“And exactly how long have you had this Chat Noir... _Thing?_” Adrien asked, and he was fiddling with the miraculous on his finger as he seemed to look everywhere except for Marinette’s eyes. He looked to be so... _shy_? Sheepish? As if he were a school boy and his crush had just told him that she liked him back. 

Marinette’s heart sank. 

She couldn’t do this. 

“Honestly...” She started slowly, chewing nervously on the insides of her cheeks as Adrien finally met her eyes. “I didn’t really realise until I found out he was you.” 

Adrien’s eyes narrowed slightly, eyebrows furrowing with suspicion as he crossed his arms over his chest. “So, you do know.” 

Marinette noted that it wasn’t a question. 

“You could have at least tried to defend yourself a little,” she tried to joke, but Adrien apparently didn’t find it very amusing. 

“Do I need to?” Adrien asked, the lump in his throat bobbing as he swallowed. “There’s no more Hawkmoth, and even if there was, I’d trust you with my identity.” He paused for a short moment, and there was a hint of something — sadness, maybe? — that crossed his expression. “Besides, I don’t want to lie to you.” 

Marinette closed her eyes and she felt guilt sink deep into her skin. 

Why did he have to be so perfect? 

“Adrien...” She chewed nervously on her bottom lip, the taste of copper on her tongue, and when she opened her eyes again, Adrien was watching her with a worried frown. 

“Are you— Are you disappointed or something?” 

“No!” 

“You just don’t look... I don’t know—“ He rubbed the back of his neck. “When I imagined someone finding out my identity, I just thought the reaction would be a little different.” 

Marinette couldn’t help it — she could feel the telltale signs of tears stinging behind her eyes. “You’re worried about how I feel? Adrien, you haven’t even asked me how I know.” 

Adrien paused for a long moment, as if he were seriously considering what she had said. He wet his lips nervously, and Marinette watched as his jaw tensed and then untensed and he asked, “How did you find out?” 

Quietly, Marinette asked, “Are you mad that I know?” 

His answer was almost instant. “No.” 

Now it was getting truly scary. 

Marinette swallowed, and she suddenly felt cold and exposed in the pure white lingerie. Adrien must have realised that, so he grabbed a woollen blanket spread over his mattress and held it out for Marinette. 

She took it gingerly. 

“Marinette,” Adrien said, eyes lowered to the floor as Marinette cacooned herself in the blanket. She wanted it to swallow her up and devour her whole. “How do you know that I’m Chat Noir?” 

Marinette tugged the blanket tight around her body. “Because I saw you when you took your miraculous off.” 

Adrien’s voice was calm when he asked, “When?” 

“The other night,” she told him. “When we were arguing.” 

His eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head slowly, confused as he tried to piece together the parts. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What argument?” 

“The argument,” Marinette repeated quietly, knuckles aching from her grip on the material. “About you not returning the miraculous.” 

Adrien stared at her. 

His expression was blank, unsure of what exactly it was that she was telling him, and then his head cocked to the side and realisation dawned — Marinette could see the understanding in his eyes. 

“But that—“ Adrien said, and stopped as soon as he started. He blinked once, and then twice, and when he took a short step backwards, Marinette felt sick to her stomach. 

“Adrien—“ 

“You knew this whole time?” Adrien asked, and then he held up his hands and shook his head. “And you didn’t say anything?” 

“I was trying to find the right time—“ 

“You’re Ladybug,” he said — not a question, but a statement, as if he needed to confirm it for himself. His tongue curled against his bottom lip, and an odd smile spread over his mouth as he said, “Even the other night, when you came back to give me my miraculous and you kissed me — you knew.” 

Marinette wasn’t sure if she should step closer or back up. “Adrien, I’m sorry.” 

“Why—Why?” He seemed to be rambling to himself, and he laughed hollowly as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Were you ever going to tell me?” 

“Of course I was!” She cried, and her throat was so tight that her voice came out croaky. “I was just worried that you wouldn’t like me anymore if you found out I was Ladybug.” 

“What?” Adrien exclaimed, and he shook his head in disbelief, pivoting slowing in a circle as if he were searching for someone to explain to him. “Why would you think that?” 

“Because of the things I said to you as Ladybug, and everything that happened with your father—“ 

“What has my father got to do with it? I was the one that told you he was Hawkmoth, remember?” 

“I know and I’m sorry,” Marinette said, and she took tiny steps towards him. He glanced across at her for a brief moment, and then looked away. “I just didn’t want to lose you again.” 

“You know,” Adrien said suddenly, and he looked at her. “The thing that pisses me off the most is that the one girl that actually helped me get over Ladybug _is Ladybug.” _

Marinette tried for a small smile. “Maybe it’s fate?”

A hint of a smile on his lips — as if he didn’t want her to see it — but he was still firm with her when he asked, “Do you know how stupid this makes me feel?” 

“What — Adrien, no—“ She shook her head frantically. “Why?” 

“You lied to me this whole time; purposely kept me out of the loop,” he told her, and he tilted his head back and sighed. “It’s just... It pisses me off that you didn’t tell me when you found out I was Chat.” 

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said quietly, and she wanted to go to him and hug him, but she knew this wasn’t the right time. It was up to Adrien to make the first move. “Are you upset that it’s me?” 

“No, I—“ Adrien stopped, and he rubbed his palms roughly over his face as he paused for a heavy breath. When he dropped his hands back to his sides, he looked tired and his eyes were half-lidded. “No,” he said again. “I just felt like everything was going good again and...” 

Another pause, so Marinette took it as her chance to jump in. 

“It is good!” She assured him as she shuffled closer, eyes wide as she watched him. “It can still be good.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Adrien asked again, a sudden change in subject, and as Marinette opened her mouth to speak, he added, “Were _you _upset that it was me? Did you want to try and forget about that part of me—“ 

“Of course not!” Marinette exclaimed, head shaking desperately as she took another few steps towards him. “How could you even think that?” 

Adrien raised his eyebrows. “You always rejected my feelings as Chat Noir.” 

Marinette hesitated then, because he was right. She could understand where he was coming from when he said it like that — Adrien had every right to think that Marinette wasn’t interested in Chat Noir. And if that was the case (which it wasn’t), then surely it wasn’t so ridiculous to believe that she hadn’t revealed her identity because she wanted nothing to do with Chat Noir. It wasn’t true, of course, but Marinette could see how Adrien might have pieced it together. 

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t return your feelings,” Marinette told him, and she felt so small under his gaze — a feeling so strange and new. “Well, you know; Chat Noir’s feelings towards Ladybug. I truly didn’t realise that you were being sincere, and I was in love with someone else —“ 

Adrien looked away from her, as if the thought of Ladybug choosing someone else over him was painful, so she hurried to finish. 

“I was in love with you, Adrien. With Adrien Agreste, and I couldn’t even consider of loving anyone else.” Marinette paused, bottom lip between her teeth as Adrien’s eyes widened and he turned to stare at her. “I guess I couldn’t even consider you. The other you, I mean.” 

She was slow and careful when she reached out to hold Adrien’s hand, and even though his grip was slack, at least he wasn’t pushing her away. 

“I am sorry,” Marinette said again. “I’m sorry for not considering your feelings all those years ago, and I’m sorry for hiding the truth about knowing who you are and who I am.” She squeezed his hand carefully, and she felt her stomach flip when his finger twitched against her palm. “I really was just worried about what you would think of me. It has nothing to do with you... Or Chat Noir you.” 

A heavy silence, and for a moment, Marinette was genuinely concerned that he wasn’t going to forgive her. 

“Adrien?” Marinette prompted.

Adrien’s mouth was hot on hers, and he swallowed her surprised squeak as he pressed her up against the cool surface of the wall-mirror and littered open-mouth kisses over her lips. Marinette responded eagerly after the momentary confusion, and she whined pathetically when Adrien’s thumb and forefinger gripped and tugged down on her bottom lip. His tongue was hot as he licked into her mouth and against her teeth, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. 

“_Ah-Dree_-“ Marinette tried to call his name, but her words were clumsy without full use of her lips, and Adrien’s fingers curled around her throat in warning. 

It sent heat straight between her thighs, and she squeezed them together to gain some friction to soothe her buzzing arousal. Adrien nudged a knee between her legs, and Marinette immediately tried to grind against him, but he had lowered his knee just out of reach. 

“Is this some kind of punishment?” She mewled, and she felt the rumble of laughter in his chest as he bit down hard enough on her bottom lip to make her cry out. Her lip throbbed, but she couldn't taste the metallic tang on her tongue, so she assumed that he hadn't drawn blood. Adrien smoothed his tongue against her bottom lip, soothing the pain with heat as Marinette grappled for his shirt -- he let her pull it off, but then his hands were on her shoulder-blades, pushing her further back into the mirror as he threaded his fingers under the thin strap of her soft lingerie, and tugged her down her body until it pooled around her ankles. His fingertips dug into the soft skin of the back of her upper thigh, and he picked her up and pressed into her. 

Marinette gasped into his open mouth, and she hooked her ankles under the curve of her ass, fingers quickly working to undo his jeans. His fingers were between her thighs and rubbing against her cunt, spreading her open for him as Maronette fumbled to ease his cock between her folds. 

They both groaned when Adrien sank into her, hot and warm and wet, and he held her gaze and he thrusted into her, once, twice; fucking her so hard and fast that the back of Marinette’s head thumped against the mirror and she had to re-hook her ankles under the rise of his ass. He was so deep in this position, his cock hitting hard and deep against Marinette’s cervix, and her eyes rolled into her head as Adrien set a brutal pace. 

“Ah-ah,” Adrien tsked with a particularly hard thrust, and Marinette squeaked out a pleasured cry. “Eyes on me.” 

She felt her cheeks burn, but Marinette opened her eyes anyway and met Adrien’s fucked-out state as his hips snapped against hers, his fingers bruising against the flesh of her thighs, but Marinette could hardly feel the pain over the pleasure. Her right leg slipped and she stood on her tiptoes to keep from falling, and Adrien’s grip tightened around the other leg he had slung over his hip. Her climax approached rapidly — a tight coil snapping without warning as she yelled out loudly and came, her release leaking down her thighs. 

Adrien hardly seemed to notice. 

“S-Slower,” Marinette gasped out, her cunt sensitive and over-stimulated, and her nails marked crescent-moons into the skin of his shoulder blades. “I’m sensitive.” 

Sweat rolled down his temple, and Adrien grinned as he said, “I’m not finished yet, Princess.” 

The nickname alone was enough to send another jolt of white hot pleasure to her core. He littered kisses and bites down her throat, marking her skin with marks that Marinette was absolutely certain were going to bruise. Her legs trembled — whether that was from pleasure or strain, Marinette wasn’t sure, and Adrien’s hot breaths on her skin made her feel hot and dizzy. 

She must have been closing her eyes again because Adrien said, “Eyes on me, Mari. Eyes on me.” 

Adrien’s pupils were blown wide with lust, and he held his bottom lip between his teeth as his hips pistoned into her over and over again. Her cunt clenched at the sight of him, and Adrien groaned loudly as he pressed his forehead against Marinette’s. 

Tears burned in the corners of her eyes as Adrien’s cock struck her sweet spot again and again, and she cried into his open mouth as her second climax tore through her body. She really was trembling now, her muscles running on pure adrenaline, and Adrien’s mouth sought hers for a kiss as he reached his own orgasm. 

“_Fuck_,” he swore as he came, spilling inside of her with a choked gasp, and he held onto her tightly as he carefully lowered the both of them to the floor. Marinette practically collapsed into him, legs shaking as she struggled to catch her breath. Adrien smoothed back her hair and whispered sweet praises in her ear — _good girl, you did so good._

Pride bloomed in her chest, but she was too spent to do anything else other than to hang bonelessly off of Adrien. 

“Did you—“ Marinette panted when the oxygen finally returned to her lungs. “Work out your frustration?” 

Adrien smiled, throwing and arm over his face as he lied down on his back on the floor. Marinette followed him and nestled into his side. “I’m still a little pissed off at you,” he admitted, but he sounded light and not at all angry. “But I love you anyway, My Lady.” 

Marinette gnawed on her bottom lip, and she wanted to sit up to look at him, but her body was too exhausted. “Is that only because I’m Ladybug?” 

She felt him kiss the top of her head, and Marinette closed her eyes. “It’s because you’re _you_.”

* * *

Surpisingly, they didn’t talk about the identity thing afterwards. In fact, the only thing they really talked about was what to get for dinner. 

After showering — and it was _just showering (_Marinette considered herself to be pretty fit, but after Adrien’s crazed sex against the wall, she was completely spent) — they settled comfortably on the sofa, Adrien channel surfing while Marinette went through his vast collection of paper take-out menus. 

“Jeez,” Marinette said, an eyebrow raised as she tossed the fifth pizza menu she had seen onto the coffee table. “Why do you have so many menus?” 

“Rebellion,” Adrien told her matter-of-factly. “My father never let me eat take-out, so it’s my life mission to collect as many take-out menus as I can.” 

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t ignore the twinge of sadness deep in her chest. 

He had leant her some of his clothes (not that he had really had a choice since she’d raided his closest anyway) and snuggled into his side and thought _wow, I could get use to this_. 

Of course, with Marinette’s luck, there was a knock at the door in the next instant. 

Adrien groaned as he rolled off the couch, and Marinette tapped his ass with her toes as he passed. He swatted her foot away but missed, and she grinned as she sunk further into the couch. 

“_Dude_!” Came the incredulous cry when Adrien opened the door, and Marinette immediately recognised the voice. “You’re not even dressed yet? What have you been doing?” 

Marinette shifted on the couch. “Hi, Nino.” 

“Oh,” Nino said. “Hey, Marinette.” Even being so far away from the door, Marinette could see the hint of a blush rising to his cheeks. “I... Uh— Didn’t realise that you had other plans.” 

Adrien glanced over his shoulder at her suspiciously, as if she had been pulling faces behind his back. Marinette smiled. 

“What’s up?” Adrien asked when he was finally convinced that Marinette wasn’t up to anything, and he shuffled to the side to let Nino in. 

Nino stayed out in the hallway. 

“Ah, dude. Come on,” Nino sighed. “We were supposed to be seeing a movie, remember?” 

A short moment of silence, and then Adrien yelped loudly, “Dude! Sorry!” He stumbled to turn around, saw Marinette, seemed to only just remember that she was there, and turned back to Nino. “Nino, I am really sorry—“ 

“Go,” Marinette told him, and she smiled kindly when both boys looked at her. 

“You could come too, Marinette,” Nino suggested. 

“No, no. It’s okay, really.” She slipped off the couch and tugged at the hem of Adrien’s shirt that she wore. “I’ve had Adrien all to myself for weeks now. You should go and have some fun.” 

“Are you sure?” Adrien asked, a small frown between his eyebrows, and Marinette poked it carefully. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” 

He seemed to take the time to consider his options, and when Marinette smiled at him again, his shoulders relaxed and he nodded. “Okay, yeah,” Adrien said. “Sorry, Mari—“ 

“Nothing to apologise for!” She told him swiftly, and she reached up onto the tips of her toes to press a light kiss to his forehead. “I’ll head home now, okay?” 

Adrien shook his head. “Just stay here.” 

Nino, who apparently felt like he was in the middle of something he shouldn’t have been, puckered his lips and inched away from the door. 

“Is that okay?” Marinette asked. 

“Yeah!” This time, Adrien pressed a kiss to her forehead and smoothed the hair on the top of her head. “There’s food in the fridge, but order take-out if you want. We shouldn’t be gone too long.” 

“Really, it’s okay,” Marinette told him, and she was flicking his hip with her finger as she said, “Have fun.” 

Another short kiss, and then Marinette was watching the two of them walk down the hallway — Nino jostling Adrien in the side of the ribs with his elbow as they laughed and chatted. Marinette smiled, and she closed and locked the door. 

She was tired, and not all that hungry, and so Marinette trudged her way into Adrien’s bedroom and let her body flop bonelessly on the mattress. She rolled onto his side, where he usually slept, and her stomach fluttered as his scent surrounded her. 

It was a comfortable feeling; a homey feeling. 

A feeling that she never wanted to forget. 

On his bedside table sat the strip of photographs that they had taken together on their first date to the arcade, and Marinette grinned stupidly to herself at the goofy smiles and the digitally added clown wigs. It was surprising really — how easy it was to see the Chat Noir in Adrien now that she really knew him. 

And she loved him. 

Loved him more than she ever had before. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh i wanted to do angst but didn’t feel that it suited adrien’s character ?? i mean he just found out the two girls he loves are the same person? bonus amiright 
> 
> as ALWAYS thank u sm for reading/kudos/comments & ur patience and understanding love yazz x


	14. Partners

It was late when Adrien finally stumbled into his apartment -- _too_ late -- and he fumbled with the deadbolt lock on the door, cheeks flushed a pretty pink from the alcohol that he one-hundred per cent blamed Nino for. Adrien had been used to the late night partying and drinking once not too long ago, when he had traveled as much as the world as he could before reason settled in and he acknowledged that running away from his problems wouldn't solve anything. 

Plagg had jokingly said that Adrien hadn't been trying hard enough to forget. Adrien was entirely convinced that Plagg was secretly pleased that he had chosen to return home to Paris. 

Still, it had been a while since Adrien had really been able to let go since then, and even though the two childhood friends had only meant to be going out to watch a movie, Nino had convinced (without much effort) to make a stop at the local pub before heading back to their apartments. Adrien hadn't had a good night out with Nino in a long time, and he ultimately decided that one drink wouldn't hurt.

Except that one drink turned into several. 

"Wanna be a little bit quieter, Twinke-Toes?" Plagg mocked, small arms folded over his chest as he hovered above Adrien's nose. The kwami's eyes glowed a vibrant green in the darkness of Adrien's apartment, and Adrien held his fore-finger to his lips and shushed him. 

Plagg narrowed his eyes. “I’m not the one stomping around the place. I can’t — it’s physically impossible.” 

Adrien shushed him again, and the kwami, apparently having decided that he’d had enough of his chosen’s drunken behaviour, rolled his eyes and kept quiet.

Adrien hadn’t intended to get home late, and he certainly hadn’t intended to drink too much, and he held his bottom lip between his teeth as he quietly (or so he thought) stumbled into his bedroom and toed off his shoes. Marinette was sleeping — on his side of the bed nonetheless — but Adrien really couldn’t seem to care about that when she was snuggled in so sweetly and peacefully, the sheets rolling off her body and the perfect curve of her hips. And Adrien, in his tipsy stupor, decided that he absolutely loved Marinette’s hips and concluded in that moment that the lower half of her body most definitely needed his undivided attention. 

He crawled onto the mattress carefully and peeled back the sheets to find his treasure — Marinette’s bare legs, and those beautifully round hips covered in a pair of his own boxer shorts. Adrien hummed to himself as he pressed his thumbs into the base of her spine, gently massaging the muscle there, and he was smiling stupidly to himself as he gently rolled her onto her stomach and lifted the hem of her tee-shirt midway up her back.

“You know how weird this is, right?” That nasally voice might have annoyed sober Adrien, but drunk Adrien struggled to contain his bursting laughter. His cheeks swelled and his lips puckered, and Plagg shot him a look of pure distaste.

Oh, so it was fine to sink Atlantis but Plagg drew the line at messing with sleeping girlfriends. 

“I’m not some kind of freak,” Adrien defended. 

Plagg didn’t seem convinced. “Oh yeah, because crawling on top of a sleeping girl is completely normal.” 

Adrien opened his mouth to protest, and after receiving a challenging glare from his kwami, clamped his lips shut and murmured, “shut up.” 

Despite the bickering, Plagg must have ultimately decided that he trusted his chosen not to do anything too weird and left the room, leaving Adrien alone with his drunken fixation with Marinette’s back. He kissed an asscheek through the material of Marinette’s shorts, and then the other, and his fingers were incredibly warm against the bare skin of Marinette’s lower back. 

“What are you doing?” She asked groggily, only half awake, but she made no effort to turn over or put a stop to Adrien’s lips as he kissed wet spots into her underwear. 

“Kissing ass, My Lady,” Adrien slurred. 

Marinette shifted, and she leaned onto her elbows so she could look over her shoulder at him, and her eyes were half-lidded and her hair messy, and she looked so utterly confused but entirely willing to roll with whatever Adrien was up to. 

She blinked. “Why?” 

“Because you have a wonderful ass, My Lady.” 

Marinette’s eyes narrowed, and she rolled over slowly, hands gentle in his hair as Adrien rested his chin on her pubic bone. “Have you been drinking, Kitty?” 

Adrien’s eyes softened, and he practically melted into her body as he cooed, “I love it when you call me that.” 

She smiled, unable to help herself, and Adrien’s head lolled in her lap like a puppy’s might’ve when she sat up. He dug his face deeper into her thighs, and Marinette jolted when he pressed a wet kiss over her clothed cunt. 

“Okay, Mr Romantic,” Marinette said as she carefully lifted Adrien’s head out from between her thighs. “I think you need to go to sleep.” 

His head was heavy in her palms, but that dopey, love-struck expression on his face never faltered. It made Marinette’s chest feel light and airy, and her heart throbbed sweetly for him. Adrien murmured something, low and soft and Marinette didn’t think that he’d actually spoken words, and when she gently brushed her thumb along his cheekbone, Adrien’s body perked up and his fingers sought out the warmth between her thighs. 

“I jus— L-Lil...” He babbled, green eyes alight as he looked at her, eyes half-lidded and pleading for what he couldn’t say with his own words, and Marinette shushed him sweetly as she undressed him down to his underwear. When she pulled the sheets over the both of them and began to lie down, Adrien shot upright and furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Wait. Are we having sex or not?”

Marinette’s face flushed red. “A-Adrien, no,” she told him, and she settled him back down onto the mattress. “It’s time to sleep, okay?” 

Through the darkness, Adrien frowned at her, and Marinette heard his heavy sigh and felt his warm breath on the top of her head as he asked, “Tomorrow?” 

She snorted, and Adrien bristled, but Marinette ran her thumb along his jawline to keep him from bursting into a drunken rant and said, “Okay. Tomorrow.” 

* * *

When tomorrow came, Adrien woke with a throbbing ache between his eyebrows and an emptiness in his bed that he had once been used to, but had since filled with a black-haired, blue-eyed goddess. 

He groaned as he rolled onto his stomach, face pushing deep into his pillow (which smelt a little like Marinette) as he wallowed in self-pity. 

“Didn’t take you as a light-weight.” 

Her voice was angelic; heavenly; like a slice of purity on a silver plate, and Adrien twisted onto his side so he could look at her. Marinette had her hair tied back into loose twin pigtails, and she was wearing tight sports leggings and a cropped Sailor Scouts graphic tee. 

“I went home to change,” She explained, as if she were reading his thoughts, and as Adrien sat up, Marinette came to sit next to him on the mattress. “I’ve got yoga with Alya this morning. Kinda like a ritual to start off the weekend.” 

“Oh,” Adrien said, voice gruff. He must have been screaming or something the night before. 

“B-But if you’re not feeling well, I can stay!” Marinette exclaimed, her hand finding his to squeeze it, and she was so warm and soft. 

Adrien shook his head and instantly regretted it, wincing as his brain throbbed. “No, I’m fine. I’ll catch up with you later today.” 

“Are you sure? I really don’t mind staying...” 

“Nothing I haven’t handled before,” Adrien said, and he shot her a cheeky grin when she puckered her lips. 

“Um, I made you some crepes for breakfast.” Marinette licked her lips, as if nervous that Adrien might actually eat food that she had made for him, but he only found it endearing. “I’ve left them in the microwave to keep them warm if you want to lay in bed for a little bit longer.” 

Adrien sighed dreamily. “You’re a literal angel, Marinette.” 

Red stained the tips of her cheeks, and an innocent smile came to her lips as she brushed messy hair off of Adrien’s forehead. “Make sure you drink lots of water today, okay? I’ll call you after our session.” 

She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, and then to his lips, and Adrien was sure that he must have died and gone to heaven because he felt so soft and pure and — nope, there was the throbbing hangover; this was certainly no heaven of his. 

“Hey,” Adrien called when Marinette reached his bedroom door, and she stopped to look at him with a kind smile. His eyes darted down her body, mind spinning at the way those pants clung to her curves. “Nice ass, My Lady.” 

* * *

Marinette was waiting for Alya to come out of the bathroom when she spotted Adrien walking into the gym, and she raised an eyebrow as she took a short sip from her water bottle. 

“Good session?” Adrien asked her, his smile bright and dazzling as he approached her, that gorgeous face of his almost rendered close to being not perfect due to the dark circles under his eyes — _almost_. 

“Are you stalking me?” Marinette teased, but she didn’t protest when his fingers settled lightly against the small of her waist. 

“I just came down to thank you for my breakfast,” he defended, lips pouted in feigned sadness. 

Marinette grinned. “Couldn’t do that over text?” 

“Couldn’t do _this _over text,” Adrien said, and he leaned forward to press his lips against hers, soft and gentle and sweet. Marinette hummed against him, warmth settling in her chest at their new normal — _this_ was normal now. 

“Yeah,” she breathed out, light and airy and star-struck by him, and if this were a cartoon or manga, Marinette was sure that she’d have hearts in her eyes. “I’m glad that wasn’t over text.” 

“Well good morning, Blondie,” Alya called out, eyebrows raised behind those chunky spectacles of hers, and she shifted her weight onto one hip as she stopped besides Marinette. “You guys really can’t spend a few hours without each other, huh?” 

“Alya—“ Marinette protested. 

“It’s sweet, really,” Alya added quickly, and with a quick eye-roll, she said, “_Too_ sweet, maybe.” 

“I was hoping I could borrow Marinette off you for a while,” Adrien said sheepishly, and Marinette took his hand in hers when she felt his index finger brush up against her palm. “Just for a bit. If that’s okay.” 

“Hey, go crazy,” Alya told him, and this time, Marinette rolled her eyes. “I am nothing if not supportive of you two love birds.” She waggled her fingers at them, her water bottle pointer accusingly at Marinette as she backed away. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Mari.” 

“Oh my god,” Marinette muttered, fingers pressed into her forehead as she shook her head. 

“What wouldn’t Alya do?” Adrien asked curiously. 

“You don’t want to know.” A short pause, and Marinette released a pent up breath as she looked up at Adrien. He was smiling at her, but there was something in his eyes — an unsureness of sorts — and Marinette frowned. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah...” Adrien said slowly, and his tongue lazed against his bottom lip as he thought, and then added a little quieter, “I thought that I should probably see Master Fu today. Explain myself.” 

“Oh,” Marinette said, and she nodded as Adrien’s hand tightened slightly around hers. “Do you want me to come with you?” 

She could practically see the relief wash across his face. “Would you?” 

“Of course. We’re partners, right?” 

Adrien smiled again, brighter — more sincere. “Right,” he agreed. “Partners.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologises for the delay & many thanks for ur patience! (1) i didn’t have any time at all to write and (2) when i got the time to write i struggled on what to actually write 
> 
> regardless i hope u enjoy & thank u for all the reads/kudos/comments u know i appreciate it !! thanks !!


	15. How High Can You Keep Your Legs For Me, Miss Dupain-Cheng?

* * *

The wait in Master Fu’s small sitting room was... _painful, _to say the least, and it took all of Marinette’s strength to not just duck out and forget that they had never come in the first place. 

The tension in the air was thick, and it had a horrible, bubbly-goo settling deep in Marinette’s gut. She glanced across at Adrien, and she could tell that he wasn’t faring any better. His palm was hot and clammy against hers, and he was squeezing her hand so tightly that it was making her bones ache, but she kept quiet for his benefit. 

Master Fu sat silently as he let his tea stoop in his mug, eyes boring down into the yellow-ey water; unnaturally silent, as if he were purposely punishing them. Even the three kwamis — Tikki, Plagg, and Wayazz were unusually quiet, waiting with baited breath for Master Fu to say something. 

Adrien was pale, knee bouncing nervously, and Marinette decided that they had endured the painful silence for long enough. 

“Master—“ She began. 

“Your miraculous,” Master Fu interrupted, as if he had never heard her in the first place. Marinette blinked in surprise, and her mouth closed quickly as she tossed a confused glance in Adrien’s direction. Fu finally looked up, his eyes trained on Adrien, and Marinette didn’t think she had ever seen her master look so serious. “It’s time you return it, Adrien.” 

“Master!” Plagg protested instantly, and he zipped over to hover in front of the old man’s face. “I’m also responsible. You can’t just blame the kid for—“ 

“We already know the dangers of a miraculous falling into the wrong hands,” Master Fu pressed. “It was reckless and irresponsible to leave with the miraculous, not to mention that I had specifically asked for both of the miraculous to be returned.” 

“But—“ Marinette tried to chime in. 

“No, he’s right,” Adrien told her, and Marinette realised that his grip around her hand had grown slack. “I did the exact same thing that my father did all those years ago.” 

Marinette’s heart ached for him. “But you would never—“ 

“Marinette,” he said, a mournful expression on his face, and he smiled sadly as he slowly pulled the miraculous from his finger. 

“Kid...” Plagg whispered, but the small kwami took back the ring when Adrien held it out for him, and he hugged it to his small body. 

“I’m sorry, Plagg,” Adrien apologised, his voice thick with the effort of holding back his tears, but he managed a small smile as he said, “Thanks for everything.” He gnawed on the inside of his bottom lip, and Marinette watched as Adrien struggled to meet their master’s eyes. “Master, for what it’s worth, I am sorry.” 

Master Fu tilted his chin down slowly, a small nod of acknowledgment, and then his eyes were on Marinette, and she felt her heart stutter in her chest. “Yours too, Marinette.” 

“What?” Tikki shrilled. 

“But she didn’t do anything wrong!” Adrien argued, and he clambered onto his knees, outraged. “You can’t punish her for something that I did!” 

“A-Adrien,” Marinette stammered, hands on his arm to pull him back down beside her. He was bristling, a pot of water ready to boil over, and she smoothed her palm over his thigh to keep him calm. 

“Master, please,” Tikki pleaded, her high-pitched voice so tiny but desperate to be heard. “We were only just reunited.” 

“When I heard that Adrien had returned to Paris, I had hoped that Ladybug would be able to convince Chat Noir to return his miraculous,” Master Fu explained, and he held his hand out towards Plagg. The kwami seemed hesitant, but he reluctantly dropped the cat miraculous in his open palm. “Now that Chat Noir’s miraculous has been returned, Ladybug is no longer needed.” 

It was a hard blow to the gut, and for a short moment, Marinette felt like she couldn’t breathe. She glanced across at Adrien, tears brimming in her eyes, and his expression twisted with anger. 

“You can’t do this to her,” Adrien protested, turning towards Master Fu with newfound determination. “Marinette’s done everything that you’ve ever asked her. She’s the perfect Ladybug.” 

“She _was_,” Master Fu said. “But now Ladybug is not needed.”

”Master...” Tikki said slowly, sadly, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Tikki was Ladybug just as much as Marinette was — it was a part of their identities, woven into their souls. 

Marinette wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and cry, and throw a fit because it was unfair. After everything, she had to lose Tikki again. Still, she said, “I understand.” 

“Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed. 

“No, really. I do,” Marinette told him calmly, even though she felt like her world was spinning. “There’s no more Hawkmoth, so there’s no need for Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore.”

Tikki reached out a small hand to Marinette’s cheek, her big eyes wide and sparkling, and she said softly, “I’m so proud of you, Marinette.” 

“Thank you, Tikki,” Marinette said, and she felt her throat tighten as she began to pull the back of her earring off. 

“Stop,” Master Fu said, and time inside the room seemed to freeze. Marinette paused, her hand raised by her ear, and she stared with wide eyes. “Forgive me for acting cruelly, but it was a necessary test.” 

“Test?” Adrien echoed dumbly. 

“So... Wait...” Marinette stumbled to find the proper words. 

Plagg very quickly and very suddenly was in front of Master Fu and gripping tightly onto his grey beard, nasally voice surprisingly loud as he exclaimed, “How about looping us in next time? It’s not like us kwami’s weren’t the ones that had the miraculous created in the first place!”

”I’m sorry, Plagg,” Master Fu said, and from what Marinette could tell, he was genuine. “I needed yours and Tikki’s reactions to be genuine. If there were an easier way to do this, I would have done it.” 

“You’re letting us keep our miraculous?” Adrien asked slowly, carefully, as if he were afraid of being told otherwise. 

To answer his question, Master Fu extended his hand towards Adrien. “There must always be a Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Master Fu said. “That responsibility falls to the both of you, if that is what you choose.” 

Marinette watched as Adrien slowly reached out, his fingers curled inwards towards his palms as his hand lingered over Master Fu’s. He took it gingerly, as if he were waiting for Master Fu to snatch his hand back and declare that he had been joking. But Adrien took the miraculous, and Master Fu smiled as he watched Adrien slide the silver ring back onto his finger. 

“But what about our identities?” Marinette asked quietly, and she glanced between Adrien and Master Fu. “I mean, we were always told that we had to keep that to ourselves.” 

“True, but that was when Hawkmoth was trying to capture the miraculous, and there is no Hawkmoth anymore.” Master Fu picked up his tea cup, and he sipped it slowly, savouring the flavour before he continued. “Besides, if Marinette is going to be the next guardian, it would only be a matter of time before the two of you would need to reveal your identities to each other.” 

“Next guardian?” Adrien repeated. “Are you okay?” 

Master Fu smiled — Marinette had shown the exact same reaction when he had first suggested to her that she should be the new guardian. “Just thinking ahead,” he assured. “It seems only natural that Ladybug should take over when the time comes.” 

Marinette met Adrien’s glance, and she shrugged her shoulders. A conversation for another day. She didn’t feel like getting into it right now. 

“So...” Marinette began. “We’re good? Like, it’s really okay for us to keep being Ladybug and Chat Noir.” 

“It’s like I said — the choice is yours.” A short pause and a smile, and Master Fu added, “But you will always be Ladybug and Chat Noir to me.” 

* * *

“I’ve never wanted to hit an old man so much in my life,” Adrien said. 

Marinette laughed, and she pressed her tongue against the insides of her teeth as she looked up at him. His candy-green eyes glimmered bright in the light of the early afternoon sun, and Marinette thought that the black mask made for a stark contrast. 

He fiddled with the golden bell at his throat, the size of it significantly smaller than she remembered it to be back when they were teenagers, and she pressed her arm against his as they swung their legs over the edge of the Eiffel Tower. 

“I’ve wanted to punch your dad,” she said out loud and she stopped suddenly, but when Chat Noir glanced over at her, there was a humoured grin on his lips. “Like, more than any person in my life.” 

“Even Chloe?” He asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Lila?” 

Ladybug paused then, eyes narrowed in thought. “That’s a tough one,” she answered slowly, and she pressed the toe of her foot against his calf. “But yes, even Lila.” 

Chat Noir whistled. “And I know how much you would like to punch Lila.” 

“Apparently it’s not very superhero-ey to punch people,” Ladybug sighed dramtically. 

“You poor thing,” he teased, and he brought his arm around her body to hug her close to him. Chat’s arm was strong, thick and hard with muscle, and it made Ladybug feel warm and giddy. “Who knew that being a hero could be such a burden?” 

Ladybug pressed into him further, gloved fingertips digging into the flesh of his thigh. Chat seemed to startle at that, but he looked down at her and his eyebrows raised suggestively. “Can I ask you a question?” She asked. 

“You just did, Bugaboo.” 

“How many girls have you been with?” 

Chat Noir faltered at that, lips pursing to the side as he slowly looked away from her, but that bravado was back in seconds, and he shot her a teasing glance out of the corner of his eyes as he said, “Now now, My Lady. That’s a rude thing to ask a young man.” 

Ladybug pouted. “Adrien, I’m curious.” 

“I don’t want you to think badly of me,” Chat told her, and his thumb rubbed gently circles into the space between her shoulder and clavicle. 

“You know that I wouldn’t,” she said, and she let her head rest against his arm. “I really am just curious.” 

“There’s been a few,” he finally answered, though he sounded unsure and reluctant. Ladybug felt his chin rest atop her head, and she could feel his jaw moving as he added, “But they were just... You know...” 

“Mhm,” Ladybug hummed, and she decided not to press him any further. “Did you miss me at all?” 

“Yes.” His answer was immediate. “I would have come home sooner, but...” Chat’s free hand came to rest in Ladybug’s lap, and Ladybug wove her fingers through his. 

“You weren’t ready,” Ladybug finished for him, and he did that lazy murmur in his throat that meant that he agreed with her. She brought his hand to her lips and kissed him through the leather glove. “You’re back now. That’s what matters.” 

Chat Noir kissed the top of her head, and they sat there together at the top of the Eiffel Tower like they had when they were kids all those years ago. Chat began to hum, a soft and sweet tone that Ladybug didn’t recognise, but she was happy to listen to it. 

“You know what?” Chat said after a long beat of silence. 

“What?” Ladybug said. 

“Let’s go on a date.” 

“A date?” She echoed, and she pulled back so she could look Chat Noir in the eyes. He was smiling, sweet and innocent and childlike — much like the innocent Adrien Agreste that she had grown up with, and not like the new Adrien Agreste that she had gotten to know. “What — Right now?” 

“Yeah!” Chat Noir beamed, and he traced a clawed fingertip over her nose and along her cheek. “Why not? I’ll meet you back at your apartment.” 

“Uh— Yeah, okay,” Ladybug agreed, Chat’s joy so easily contagious, and she blinked in surprise when he clambered to his feet and helped her to hers. 

“It’ll be a proper date,” he told her. 

She rolled her eyes. “We’ve already had proper dates.” 

“Yes, but not a proper dinner date.” Chat slipped his baton from out of his belt, and he held it behind his neck, his wrists dangling off the edges limply. When he smiled at her, it was a mixture of the Adrien that she grew up with and the new Adrien — shy and humble, but entirely aware that he could get away with whatever he wanted. “Unless you just want to head back and... Well, you know...” 

Chat Noir’s mask hitched as he raised his eyebrows suggestively, and Ladybug rolled her eyes a second time. “Okay, calm down Romeo. I’ll meet you back at mine,” she said, and when Chat took her hand in his to press a light kiss to the top of it, she let him. “Don’t be late, okay kitty?” 

* * *

Adrien was early. 

In fact, he was so early that he turned up at her door when Marinette was just finishing up her make-up and spritzing perfume on the insides of her wrists. 

“How are you so beautiful?” He had sighed dreamily. 

Marinette wondered the same thing about him. 

He had chosen a small restaurant on a relatively quiet street, further away from the nightlife and hot tourist spots. Marinette didn’t really mind that much; although, they were the only young couple surrounded by older couples. She wondered if Adrien had known that and done it on purpose. After all, older people were less likely to place Adrien Agreste’s name to his face. He could enjoy the evening without the whispering behind his back - _'that's him, right? Poor Adrien. I can't believe his father turned out to be Hawkmoth.' _After all, one of the reasons why Adrien left Paris was to avoid all the gossip around his father. But it was nice to see him like this - happy and carefree, with no worried thoughts swirling around endlessly in his head about what people were thinking or saying about him and his family. 

Adrien was wearing a white dress shirt and black jeans, and Marinette's skin felt electric when his thumb brushed the inside of her wrist. It felt magnetic, the two of them drawn together as if gravity intended on it, and Marinette hardly noticed that her high-heeled foot was pressing against his calf until Adrien looked at her with burning intensity and flicked his tongue over his bottom lip. Butterflies danced in her stomach, and she smiled at him as she rested her chin on top of her open palms, the tip of her shoe dragging slowly up Adrien's calf. 

"Everything okay?" Marinette asked. 

“My Lady, please,” Adrien quipped. “There are old ladies around.” 

She smiled at that, unable to help herself, and her stomach did weird flips at the mention of her other self’s nickname coming from Adrien’s lips. It was a good feeling, a familiar yet strange feeling, but a feeling that Marinette liked nonetheless. 

“I’m only touching you,” Marinette defended, her voice purposely soft, and in her heart, she still couldn’t believe that she was actually in this moment, on a date with Adrien Agreste, joking and teasing as if it were the most natural thing in the world. 

Oh, what a lovely reality this was. 

Adrien’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Marinette rolled her lips together innocently. “What?” She asked, and she dragged her heels away from him as she added teasingly, “Seriously, Adrien. Get your head out of the gutter.” 

Adrien smiled, a big, goofy smile that completely did _not _match what he said next: 

“Ah, Princess. You’re so gonna get it when we get home.” 

* * *

Home appeared to be Adrien’s apartment, but Marinette didn’t mind at all. 

He was surprisingly... _neutral, _which was certainly not what Marinette had expected when Adrien had declared that she was _'going to get it' _when they got back to the apartment. But Adrien popped the first two buttons of his dress shirt casually, and he disappeared into the kitchen; Marinette heard the clank of glass bottles, so she assumed he was rummaging through the fridge. 

"Do you want a drink?" Adrien called out, and Marinette's brow quirked. 

"Sure," she called back to him. "I'll have whatever you're having." She heard him close the refrigerator door, and then he was opening the cutlery draw. "Do you mind if I change into some of your clothes to get comfy?" 

"Of course, Bugaboo." 

Marinette briefly saw Tikki and Plagg fluttering up high by the ceiling, too absorbed in their own discussion to pay their chosen’s any attention, but it didn’t bother Marinette at all. I’m fact, she was glad that they had the time to spend together. 

Marinette kicked her high-heels off by the end of Adrien’s bed, and she shimmied out of the pretty blue dress that she had been wearing. Blue was a good colour on her — Alya had told her that. 

“Well, well, well,” Adrien murmured low in his throat. Startled, Marinette spun on her heels, lips parted in surprise as Adrien stood behind her, his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans. 

“Y-You—“ Marinette stammered. _You scared me! _She wanted to say, but Adrien’s fingertips were dragging slowly over her bare skin, and she seemed to lose her ability to speak. 

“I like these,” he commented, a finger dipping beneath the baby blue elastic of her thong. Adrien traced the lace trim carefully, eyes shifting to meet hers as his thumb rubbed circles into the soft skin below her belly-button. 

Marinette squirmed, her body already buzzing with arousal from his touch alone. His hands slipped around to cup her ass, his skin hot and warm against her own, and his fingers dipped beneath the thin lace that sat snugly between her ass-cheeks. Adrien pulled on the lace, a hot kiss against her throat, and then he let it snap back between her ass-cheeks. Marinette jolted into him, fingers needy and frantic as they worked the buttons on his dress shirt. 

Adrien’s hand rested gently against her throat, his thumb brushing against her larynx to keep her head titled just the way he liked it, and he littered open-mouthed kisses down her jawbone. Marinette whined, a soft and desperate wail for attention, and Adrien chuckled against her throat. 

“You are so fucking perfect,” he said. 

The praise sent heat straight between her thighs, and she was shoving Adrien’s shirt off his shoulders and dragging her hands all over his chest. Adrien gripped himself through his jeans, his cock straining against the tight material, and Marinette covered his hand with her own. 

“Please, _sir_.” 

“_Sir_?” Adrien echoed, and Marinette felt heat rush to her cheeks. He cocked an eyebrow. “I can work with that, Princess.”

The sound of his zipper was loud in Marinette’s ears, and her eyes were hot on his as he stepped out of his jeans and reached forward to unclasp her bra — he left the thong on, Marinette noted. Adrien palmed her breasts, a wet kiss to the top of each one before he had her on her back on the mattress. 

“You’re so perfect,” Adrien told her as he watched her. Her black hair looked almost midnight blue in the faint light of Adrien’s room, her lips red and kiss-swollen, and Adrien didn’t care if he didn’t end up in heaven at the end of it all because Marinette was the most angelic thing he would ever lay eyes on. 

Marinette smiled. “You’ve said that already.” 

“And I’ll say it a million times.” 

She didn’t doubt that. 

Marinette lifted her arms over her head and reached out with her leg, the tip of her toes gently brushing against the thick buldge in Adrien’s boxer briefs. “How do you want me, _sir_?” 

Adrien closed his eyes and thanked all the gods for the angel that was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

“How high can you keep your legs for me, Miss Dupain-Cheng?” 

“As high as you’d like me to, sir.” 

_Literal. _

_Fucking. _

_Angel. _

Adrien shuffled onto his knees on the mattress, and he dipped his index and middle fingers into his mouth, eyes never straying from Marinette’s as he slipped those same fingers under her pale blue thong and over those pretty, pink folds. Marinette bucked into his with a groan, teeth biting down onto her soft bottom lip as she spread her legs further for him. 

“That’s a girl,” Adrien praised, and those candy-green eyes shifted from her face to the sweet spot between her thighs. He eased his fingers into her easily, and Adrien felt his cock twitch at the feel of her hot, velvety walls clenching around his fingers. He laughed breathlessly as he said, “Looks like we can skip the foreplay, huh, Princess?” 

“A-Adrien,” she mumbled. 

“Adrien?” He repeated, fingers halting inside of her. “What happened to sir?” 

“Please, _kitty.” _Marinette’seyelashes fluttered, fingers pressed against her bottom lip, and Adrien swore inwardly at himself because _fuck_ — how could he turn down _that_ nickname? 

Adrien pulled his fingers out of her, and he tapped the underside of her thighs, her wetness on his fingers smearing against her skin, and Marinette did as she was told and lifted her legs into the air. Adrien shuffled out of his boxer briefs, his fingers wrapped tight around the base of his cock as he dipped the head between her folds.

“Remember what you told me,” Adrien reminded her, his knees nudging her thighs further apart. “Keep those pretty little legs as high as I want them.” 

And she did — even when he slipped her thong aside and thrust into her smoothly and fucked deep into her. Marinette’s legs remained high, and when her knees hinted even the slightest that they might drop, she reached up with her arms and clasped her hands around her ankles to keep her legs straight. 

“That’s a good girl,” Adrien said, and he would have helped her — held her legs up for her or something — but Marinette was doing such a good job that she didn’t even need his help. She was so eager to please him, that even when he quickened his pace, her legs remained high and proud. 

“_G-God_,” Marinette squeaked, eyes pinched shut until she decided that she didn’t want to miss Adrien’s blissed-out expression, and then her blue eyes were half-lidded and trained on him. “This position — ‘S deep.” 

“Good thing you’re flexible, huh?” Adrien teased, and he grinned at her, wide and rogue and Chat Noir-ish, and he threaded his fingers through his hair to brush back the blonde hairs that were dangling in front of his eyes. “You’re so good, Princess. So good.” 

Marinette’s toes curled and she arched her back off the mattress, spine curving towards the ceiling as she stuffed her fingers into her mouth, and Adrien watched; entirely enthralled by her, and he shifted over her so their torsos touched and he could pull her saliva-slick fingers out of her mouth to kiss her. 

“M-my legs,” Marinette mumbled into his open mouth, his tongue hot and burning as it licked into her mouth. “If you lie on me like this, I can’t—“ 

“Drop them,” Adrien told her, and although the change in position meant that he couldn’t fuck into her as deeply, they could feel each other’s hearts beating heavily through each other’s chests, and that made the shallow thrusts worth it. 

Marinette’s fingers knotted into his hair, and Adrien swallowed her muffled moans and gasps. 

He loved her. Loved her, loved her. Adrien wanted to be with her always, and then some more, and he might’ve come from just the thought of having Marinette as his forever if she hadn’t flipped him onto his back. 

Marinette’s black hair was long and wild, her cheeks and chest flushed a pretty pink; her eyes so bright, shining like the ocean on a sunny, summer day. She pressed hot kisses on Adrien’s chest as she leaned her body forward to finally pull her thong off, and then she settled back on Adrien’s lap. 

“Would you mind if I took over, _sir_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thaNK U FOR UR PATIENCE! ❤️  
again, i really hope u enjoyed this chapter, & thank u always for ur comments and kudos — i always love to read ur thoughts!


	16. Little Bo Peeps and Cowboys

Adrien Agreste sported a self-satisfied grin, and even in the dimly lit room, his candy apple-green eyes were dazzling. His eyes were half-lidded, lips parted only slightly as Marinette straddled his hips, and he folded his arms behind his head as he watched her with an air of bravado -- as if he were completely un-phased by the sudden turn of events. He wanted to act like he wasn't at all taken aback by Marinette's newfound taste for control? Fine. She'd crush that swagger of his for all that it was worth.

"Would you mind if I took over, _sir?" _

Adrien licked his bottom lip, and Marinette's eyes traced the movement, burned it into the back of her retinas. "Think you can handle it, _Purr-_incess?" He teased, a low drawl to his voice that almost made Marinette want to buckle and clamber onto her hands and knees for him. 

Marinette shifted atop him, his cock already buried deep inside of her, and they both moaned out loud at the spike of pleasure. Marinette tipped her head to the side, and she drew her fingertips delicately against her chest, moving the hairs that had stuck to the sweat-slick skin of her shoulders. "If I'm going to top you, kitty cat, I think I deserve an appropriate title." 

"But don't you think Princess suits you so well?" A cocky grin and raised eyebrows, and Marinette's fingers dropped to the base of her pubic bone, carefully running her thumb over the space where Adrien's cock entered her. He shuddered at that, but apparently wasn't ready to give in just yet. "So pretty and sweet and --" 

Marinette pressed her palms against Adrien's throat, light enough that it wouldn't seriously hurt him, but hard enough that he would have to breathe a little harder, and when she asked, "Are you not going to do as your Lady tells you to?” — his face flushed a deep shade of crimson. 

Adrien liked to be in control, Marinette knew that. He'd fought for it desperately as a young boy, and now, as a young man, he had gotten a taste of it, he didn't want to let it go. However, it appeared, with Adrien's eyes sparkling and his teeth gnawing into his bottom lip, that he didn't quite mind handing the baton over to Marinette. She lifted herself slowly, eyes watching his with every movement she made, and when she sank down again, it took everything in her to stop herself from riding him hard and fast.

No, it was about time that Adrien Agreste had to endure a little teasing. 

When he bucked into her to try and reach deeper, Marinette lifted herself higher onto her knees and smiled at the desperation in his eyes. Her palms flattened against his hips, holding him still as she refused to meet his thrusts. "Were you wanting something, kitty cat?"

Adrien gasped out a breathy laugh, and although she could feel how much his body was straining to fuck into her, he closed his eyes and smiled. "What? I can hardly feel anything."

Marinette's eyes narrowed, and she pinned his grabby hands above his head when he tried to reach for her hips. He cocked an eyebrow at that, and although he could have easily broken out of her hold, he kept his hands put. 

"Is that so?" She asked him, and she leaned down to tease the corner of his mouth with her lips. When Adrien tried to kiss her, she moved away, and she tossed her head back when she slowly, so painfully slow, lifted herself off his cock all the way to the head, and then, just as slow, sank down on him wholly, balls deep. She did this, again and again, so tortuously slow that it even ached for her, and she looked at him with half-lidded eyes as she asked, "This doesn't bother you?"

Adrien's eyes rolled back into his skull. "Nope," he said tightly. 

Marinette smiled, fingers entwining with his as she purred, "I'm glad."

She'd trapped him. If he tried to buck into her, she'd lift herself further off him and fuck him even shallower than before. He couldn't grip her waist or hips and guide her movements because his fingers were locked with hers, and Marinette secretly got off on the realization that he would only reach his peak when she let him. 

She had knocked his ego down a few notches, and she was feeling white hot pleasure just from looking at Adrien's needy face alone. His eyes were squeezed shut, teeth clamped down hard enough on his bottom lip to draw blood, and Marinette was beginning to feel bad for him. Edging Adrien Agreste was a pretty picture indeed, but she was aching too, and she so badly wanted to come. 

"Come on, kitty," Marinette spurred, her own breaths choppy from exertion and desperation. Her fingers squeezed tighter around Adrien's, and when she felt her thighs begin to shake, she knew that she wouldn't be able to drag this out any longer. "Just tell me what I want to hear." 

_"Fuck," _Adrien cursed, and he tried to rut into her again, but Marinette forced herself to lift her hips up. "Fuck, okay. Please, please, Princess. Baby. _My Lady. _Please, please, please-"

It was good enough. 

They cried out when she dropped down onto his cock, fast and deep and wet, and Marinette released Adrien's hands and pressed them against his chest. His own hands flung to her hips, fingertips bruising into the soft skin, and he gripped her tight as he fucked into her; firm, hard thrusts that had the tip of his cock driving deep against her cervix. Adrien dragged his knees up to her hips and planted his heels firmly into the mattress so he could pound into her rougher, harder, and Marinette decided that as fun as it was, she much preferred it when Adrien took control. 

"G-God," Marinette gasped out, and it took everything she had to keep meeting Adrien's brutal thrusts. Part of her wondered if the onslaught was his payback, but she ultimately determined that he was just so desperate to reach his end. He was close, if his ragged pants were anything to tell by, and she was close too, her head tucked underneath his chin as he fucked into her relentlessly and -- her entire body _trembled _when she came, and, she could hardly believe it, but when she heard Adrien bite out, "that's my fucking girl," in her ear, she came again instantly. Marinette cried out that time, the closeness and intensity of the orgasms so overwhelming, and then Adrien was gripping a fistful of her hair and he was shooting his load inside of her. He slammed into her once, twice, three more times as the aftermath of her climax squeezed his cock dry, and when he completely emptied inside her and pulled out, his come trickled out of her puffy cunt.

Marinette collapsed into him, her body boneless, and Adrien wrapped his arms around the small of her waist. "Jesus," he gasped out, breaths heavy as he fought to bring oxygen back into his lungs. His hands brushed her hair gently, and she only just felt the buzzing pain at the back of her head where Adrien had been gripping her hair. "That was hot." 

Marinette might have laughed at that, but she was way too exhausted, and she closed her eyes as she pressed her ear to Adrien's chest and listened to the frantic thrum of his heart.

* * *

Marinette felt only a little bit shy (_just a little bit) _as she extended the screen of her phone for Alya to look at, the nail of her thumb trapped between her teeth as she waited nervously for her best friend’s opinion. 

Alya’s eyebrows rose, the corners of her lips tipped down into a frown, and she nodded her head slowly as she looked back up at Marinette through those chunky spectacles of hers and said, “If I wasn’t dating Nino and you weren’t my best friend, I’d totally be gunning for your ass.” 

Marinette perked, back straightening as she glanced down at her phone screen. “So you think it’s good?” 

“Good?” Alya repeated. “Please, Mari. It’s every Parisian boy’s wet dream.” 

That made Marinette feel oddly flattered, and she bit down gently on her bottom lip as her eyes lingered on the photo on her phone screen for a single moment longer. She nodded then, apparently satisfied with the redhead’s comment, and slipped her phone back into her purse. 

“When’s Nino getting here?” Marinette asked, and she slipped her feet into the black pair of Mary Janes as she fished out her mobile phone once more to double-check if Adrien had sent her a text about his own whereabouts. 

“I’ll message him,” Alya told her, moving to sit next to Marinette on the couch. Her fingers moved with rapid speed — nothing less from the former Ladyblog runner. “So are you wearing it now?” 

“It?” 

“You know what I mean.” 

Marinette did know what she meant. The limited edition lingerie that she had shown her best friend only mere moments earlier; a surprise for Adrien that she had a strong inkling he would really enjoy. 

“Maybe,” Marinette answered coyly. “Maybe not.” 

Alya rolled her eyes, but she didn’t press any further, apparently too distracted by her boyfriend’s response. “Oh my God, Nino,” she sighed, and when Marinette shot her a confused glance, Alya continued, “So Nino’s just decided to tell me that he went straight there with Adrien.”

“They’re already there?” 

“Yeah. Could’ve let us know five minutes earlier, huh?” 

Marinette smiled. “Boys.” 

* * *

The campus pub hosted a Halloween event every year — they did so with most of the popular holidays that happened to occur within the university’s active semesters. And, with Marinette and her friends living in campus accomodation, meant that they could go all out all night and not have to worry about catching a taxi or an Uber back to their homes. Party central was a short walk, and there was no way that Alya was going to miss it. 

Marinette enjoyed Halloween, too. But perhaps not as much as the redhead who had meticulously planned out costume ideas the months prior to Halloween night. Nonetheless, Alya usually came up with really good costumes for their little trio (now a quadruple since Adrien had returned) of friends, and Marinette often enjoyed making little bits and pieces to complete her outfit. 

Marinette walked with her arm linked around Alya’s, both impressed at how good the redhead looked in her Cowgirl Jessie costume, and low-key salty that she hadn’t been able to make Alya’s outfit from scratch. Marinette had a lot of cowboy-esque designs that revolved around cute dresses and denim overalls. Of course, she’d helped Adrien with little bits and pieces here and there for his Halloween costume, but there was just something about women’s clothing that was just more exciting to Marinette. 

This Halloween, Alya had chosen against the typical scary costumes — which was odd, because Alya had once claimed ‘_if a Halloween costume isn’t scary, can you even say that it’s Halloween?’ _Marinette simply assumed that Alya had changed her mind. It certainly wasn’t like her to run out of spooky costume ideas. Thus, their little group opted to celebrate the night in something a little more... _Toy-ish. _

Adrien and Nino were already inside the bustling pub when Marinette and Alya arrived; Marinette slipping her arm out of Alya’s hold so that she could pat down the short hooped skirt as the two girls steered through the groups of university students dressed in their best ghoul and monster costumes. She’d worn special undergarments tonight, and Marinette would be damned if anyone other than Adrien Agreste got to see what she was wearing beneath that innocent costume of hers.

The two were playing pool with some other boys that Marinette didn’t know, and just as Nino lined up to take a shot, Alya leaned over the pool table and raised an eyebrow. “What happened to going together, Nino?” 

“Uh oh,” one of the strangers chuckled, but Alya hardly glanced in their direction. “Looks like someone’s in trouble.” 

“Sorry, Al,” Nino apologised sheepishly as he shot her a toothy smile, and Alya cocked an eyebrow as she folded her arms over her chest. “It’s just that we—“ _We_, as in him and Adrien, he was referring to, and Marinette finally remembered to look over at her boyfriend. 

Adrien had his two hands resting on the butt of his pool stick, his chin propped atop his knuckles as he watched Marinette with a warm smile. He mouthed an innocent ‘_hello_,’ and Marinette felt her face grow hot. His blonde hair was slicked back beneath his tan cowboy hat, a stray hair or two hanging by his forehead. His throat was covered by the red handkerchief that Marinette had personally hand-sewn for him, but he’d left the first few buttons of his yellow dress-shirt undone — and damn, those tight jeans did wonders for his ass. 

“Howdy there, Little Miss Bo Peep,” Adrien said, candy-green eyes never leaving hers as she brushed past Alya to stand next to her boyfriend. 

“Hey there, Sheriff,” Marinette quipped, fingers clasped behind her back as she bumped his shoulder with hers lightly. 

He lifted a hand from his pool stick to run his fingers over her pink skirt, over the delicate lace at the hem, and his eyes dropped to her breasts, accentuated by the baby blue corset she wore. “Beautiful,” Adrien commented. 

“Thanks.” She couldn’t help the feeling of pride that bloomed in her chest, and butterflies danced in her stomach when Adrien slung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close, a soft kiss to her temple. 

“Want to play with me?” Adrien asked her, and for a moment, Marinette was sure that there was some sort of hidden meaning behind it. But when she looked at him, his face was a picture of innocence, and he tilted his head as he smiled. “I’ve got a feeling that Nino might be M.I.A. for a while.” 

Marinette giggled. Alya wasn’t really angry at Nino, and they all knew that. But Alya did like to rile him up a little, and there was a small part of Marinette that believed that Nino probably liked it too. He was smiling when she glanced over at him, now incredibly close to Alya, his fingers pressed against her hips, his pool stick long forgotten. Marinette pinched it quickly and quietly, and Adrien squeezed the small of her waist gently as he prepped to take Nino’s shot. 

“Alright, My Lady,” Adrien said to her. “It’s you and me. Just like old times.” 

Marinette didn’t think it was _exactly_ like old times, but she decided that she didn’t really mind after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloo (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))♡ i apologise for the long delay and thank u for ur patience ❤️ pls take this, i hope u enjoy thank u all ily xxx
> 
> also happy belated halloween lmaoo (i was supposed to get this out on halloween smh my bad sorry)


	17. In Your Fantasies

Adrien was a good pool player, but Marinette really shouldn't have been surprised at all. After all, he _was _Adrien Agreste — he was good at almost everything. Still, it had a weird sense of pride welling in Marinette's chest, and she clung to Adrien's side so that everyone in the campus bar would know that he was with her. She didn't think that Adrien minded her clinginess. In fact, Adrien was rather fond of the behaviour — a pleased smile on his lips as Marinette squealed with delight and squeezed Adrien's arm into her cleavage whenever he won a game. 

Adrien thought that she was too damn cute for her own good. He had half a mind to swoop her into his arms and plant a kiss on those pretty pink lips of hers just to prove to everyone in the bar that she was his. 

When it was Marinette’s turn to shoot, she’d furrow her brows and stick out her bottom lip, glancing over her shoulder at him and insist that she needed his help. Adrien wasn’t dumb. He was well aware that she was only doing it so he would lean over her, his torso strong and warm against her back, his breath tickling the skin of her neck as he helped her line up the pool stick. He didn’t really care though. It gave him the chance to press himself into her soft body, and that was something he’d happily do every second of the day. 

Adrien hadn’t expected his girlfriend — it still made his heart skip a beat — to be so sly, honestly. The Marinette he had known in school was shy and reserved around him, a bumbling mess whenever he had tried to talk to her. This Marinette, the Marinette that he had grown to love deeply, was confident and brave and electric. Adrien was sure that those aspects of Marinette had always been there even when they were teenagers, but it was a side of her that he had rarely gotten to see. 

Forgetting himself, Adrien slipped his arms around the small of Marinette’s waist, eyes closing as he pressed his forehead against the exposed skin that stretched between her shoulder and her neck. He squeezed the soft flesh above her hips, and Marinette squealed at the tickilish sensation, forgoing the pool stick to curl her fingers around Adrien’s wrists. 

“You okay, baby?” Marinette asked him quietly, and the pet name had Adrien’s stomach doing somersaults. 

“Mh,” Adrien hummed, and when he lifted his head, he pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her lips. “Want to dance?” His hold around her waist slackened, and instead he wove his fingers in hers. 

Adrien never wanted to let her go. Although they had only been dating for just under a month now, his feelings for her felt so profound — so deep that sometimes his heart physically ached whenever he was apart from her. He thought that probably wasn’t entirely normal, and maybe he’d talk to Nino about it later, but for the moment, he felt so happy to be with her; to touch her; to hold her close. 

Marinette smiled up at him, lifting her free hand so she could flick the tip of his nose with her index finger, and Adrien snorted out a short laugh. 

“What’re you thinking so hard about?” She asked him, blue eyes bright and brilliant as they searched his. 

“What position I’m going to be railing you in when we get home,” Adrien quipped. 

He was too preoccupied with Marinette’s flushed face and embarrassed frown to linger on the fact that he’d referred to his apartment as _their home_.

Marinette pouted. “You’re so crude.” 

Adrien smiled as he pulled her close, Marinette squeaking in protest when she fumbled over her own two feet and fell into him. She looked like she might’ve lectured him, so he snaked his arms around her waist and planted a soft kiss against her temple. That seemed to quell any arguments she might have had, and Marinette let her body slacken against his as Adrien nodded his head playfully to the Monster Mash (the original version, not a remix, Marinette noted) and guided the sway of her hips with his hands. 

When his fingertips pressed a little too deeply into the soft skin above her hips, Marinette smiled and slung her arms over his shoulders. “How about loosening up your grip there, Cowboy.” 

“Why?” Adrien teased, his lips spreading into that cocksure smile that Chat Noir sported so often and looked so devishly handsome with thoaw candy-green eyes of his. “Trying to get away from me?” 

“And abandon you in the middle of a dance?” Marinette feigned offence, and she stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. “Is that the kind of girl you strike me for?” 

“Well, I mean you shepard girls...” His index finger ghosted over the apple of her cheek as he lifted his hand, lingering on the soft skin for the briefest of moments before he tucked a curl behind Marinette’s ear. “You never know what to expect.” 

Marinette rolled her eyes, but still, she let Adrien thread his fingers through hers so he could move their linked hands to the music. “You’re such an idiot.” 

“Uh-huh,” Adrien hummed. “You love me.” 

She really did. 

When the dance floor had gotten a little too crowded for their liking, the pair decided to take a break from dancing, and Adrien led her through the campus pub and back to their little table. 

Nino offered him a fist bump and a quick nod, and Marinette watched as the two exchanged some words, and then Adrien was slipping off the seat again and heading towards the bar. 

“This is pretty cool, huh?” Alya commented, chin in her palm as she leaned over the tabletop — voice raised slightly to be heard over the upbeat remix of The Addams Family theme song. “This time, Mari, let’s not get blackout drunk, okay?” 

Marinette’s face flushed. “That was _one _night, okay? I was nervous and needed a little liquid courage.” 

Alya cocked an eyebrow, a devious glimmer in her eyes as she smiled. “And now look at you.” She nodded her chin towards Adrien who was now balancing four drinks as he walked back to the table, eyes dazzling in the flashing lights and bright smile contagious. “Thank you, Blondie,” Alya purred as Adrien slid onto the seat besides Marinette and delivered the drinks. 

If Adrien had an issue with the nickname, he did well to hide it. 

“Well, cheers—?” Nino said as he lifted his glass of beer. 

“Happy Halloween!” Alya added, and as the four friends clinked glasses, they chorused, _“Happy Halloween!” _

* * *

Marinette couldn’t help but feel the _teensiest _bit bitter because it was _Adrien _that was blackout drunk instead of her, but Alya wasn’t giving him even half the amount of grief that she would have given Marinette if she’d been the one who had drunk one too many. 

He was clingy and overly affectionate and a generally happy drunk — not that Marinette minded at all, but he was beginning to get friendly with strangers, and although she couldn’t help but find it incredibly endearing, she wasn’t all too sure that Adrien would like to wake up with fifty random phone numbers that he had acquired over the night. 

“I better take him home,” Marinette said as she pressed a second bottle of water into Adrien’s hands. He glanced at it for a short moment and passed it off to Nino. Marinette grabbed it back and handed it to Adrien again. 

“I did not take Adrien for a light weight,” Alya laughed — not without taking a snap or two on her phone as evidence for the day after. 

“He doesn’t drink much,” Marinette said with a kind smile, but she felt a little defensive over Adrien. She didn’t mind that he was a light weight — it wasn’t his fault. 

“Want us to walk you back?” Nino asked, his arm draped comfortably over Alya’s shoulders. 

“Honestly, I’m not even that drunk,” Adrien spoke up, and although he wasn’t tripping over his own two feet or babbling nonsense, he was still a little too tipsy to continue drinking. He had sobered up a bit since drinking the water, but Marinette decided it would be best to quit while they were ahead. 

“No, that’s okay,” Marinette told Nino, and Adrien frowned at her, as if offended that she had ignored his previous statement. “I’ll just take him back to my apartment on campus, it’s not far. Thanks, though.” 

“No sweat, dudette.” 

“Text me when you get home, okay?” Alya said. 

“Will do. You do the same.” She waved as she left the pub, and she glanced across at Adrien briefly to see that he was flashing peace signs at their friends. 

The air outside the club was fresh and crisp and refreshing, and Marinette tilted her head back, her face towards the night sky. Adrien watched her, his hand holding hers, and he mimicked her, his own head titling backwards. He blew warm air from out of his throat, and the two watched as it billowed upwards in a cloud of white steam. 

“I’m a dragon,” Adrien said. 

Marinette snorted, and then Adrien snorted, and the two stifled tipsy giggles as they walked past empty lecture halls and university buildings, towards the direction of campus accomodation. 

* * *

Adrien had mostly sobered up by the time they settled down in Marinette’s small apartment. He’d already stripped off his cowboy hat and vest, and he was pulling his boots off when Marinette disappeared into the bedroom to change out of her own costume. 

Although, she wasn’t gone with dress-ups just yet. 

“Adrien!” Marinette called out, and she bit down on her bottom lip as she crawled onto her mattress and sat with her legs tucked beneath her. “Can you help me get out of this?” 

There was a short moment of silence, and if Marinette strained herself, she could hear Adrien’s feet as he headed towards the bedroom. 

“Coming,” he said, and Marinette had to remind herself that this wasn’t the time to be thinking about how domestic the situation was — calling Adrien for help and him just _being there_. She had a mission. 

He stopped at the doorframe to her bedroom, and for a moment he just stared. Then he finally blinked, and Adrien’s eyes met hers, and he let out a tight, “_O-oh...” _

_“_Hi,” Marinette said, hair tickling the skin of her bare back as she shifted on the mattress. 

“Marinette—“ 

“Marinette?” She swiftly interrupted, and she raised an eyebrow as Adrien slowly stepped into the room. “Pardon me, Mister Agreste but that’s not my name.” 

He visibly swallowed. “L-Ladybug...” 

It was Marinette’s second costume of the night, and it was something that she had admittingly been thinking about for a while. She’s had to order the lingerie online — a set of sheer scarlet lace with black polka dots; a strappy t-string style pantie and lacy harness bralette. She’d had to go with a plain black eye mask, made with a similar lacy pattern as the lingerie set. It achieved what she was going for, and if Adrien’s heated gaze was anything to tell by, he didn’t really mind the lack of polka dots. 

Marinette patted the space on the mattress beside her, and she watched quietly as Adrien stepped towards her, eyes on her as if she’d disappear if he looked away for even a second. He kneeled on the mattress, hands instantly reaching out to run his palms up her thighs and over her hips, itching slowly up her waist. 

“You like it?” Marinette asked quietly. 

“I like it,” Adrien told her. “I like it very much.” 

She smiled, seemingly sweet and innocent compared to what she was wearing, and she leaned forward on her hands and knees, cheek brushing against his as she whispered in his ear, “It’s all for you, Adrien.” 

Adrien shivered, palms dragging up the plane of her stomach and cupping her breasts through the lacy material. He pressed warm kisses against her throat, tongue hot and wet as he lavished the soft skin. 

Marinette indulged him for a moment or two. She let his greedy hands feel her body up, let his teeth nip and mark her skin — she’d have her fun all in good time. 

“Did you ever use to think of me?” She asked him, her voice low and soft as her mouth lingered by his ear, soft lips pressing kisses to his neck every now and then. “Fantasize about what would happen if you could get my suit off?” 

Adrien panted against her, hips rocking against hers as he grew hot and desperate for friction. 

“About what would happen if you could get _your_ suit off?” Marinette continued. “Did you think about that? Late at night... What it would feel like to have Your Lady’s hand around your cock.” 

“F—Fuck,” Adrien cursed, and Marinette smiled as she palmed the buldge in his jeans. 

“Answer me, Adrien,” she cooed, an eyebrow raised beneath the lace mask, and she pushed lightly against his chest. Adrien fell back against the mattress easily. 

“Yes, My Lady,” he blurted suddenly, eyes rolling back into his head as she stroked his hardening cock through his pants. “Yes, I— I thought about you all the time.” 

“Tell me,” Marinette said, nimble fingers undoing the zipper of his jeans and tugging them down his hips and over his ass. He was wearing Ladybug—themed boxer briefs, her iconic yo-yo a recurring motif on the underwear. She wanted to break character and laugh, but she’d store it in her mind and bring it up later. “What did I do in your fantasies?” 

“You’d sneak into my room at night,” Adrien told her, his words laboured and slow as he bucked into Marinette’s touch. “And you’d tell me that you want me—“ 

Marinette realised that she’d been unconsciously grinding down onto him, and she dipped one hand into her underwear as the other tugged on Adrien’s briefs to free his cock. She kissed wet kisses up his throat. 

“And you’d stroke my cock— and—“ 

“Like this?” She asked as she fisted his cock in her hand, tongue curling against the roof of her mouth. 

“Fuck... Yeah, like that,” Adrien managed through broken moans. 

She ran her thumb along the underside of his cock, tracing the prominent vein there, and then she was jerking him off again, eyes always on his face to gauge his reactions. 

“Keep talking, Adrien.” 

“A—And then you’d make me come with your mouth.” 

Marinette cocked an eyebrow. “With my mouth? You’ll have to be more specific.” 

He’d had his eyes closed, but he cracked an eyelid to look at her. She raised her eyebrows, fingers toying with the base of his cock, the heel of her palm just out of reach from the swollen head. He was already leaking pre-come, and his hips jerked at her movements. 

“You’d suck my cock,” Adrien told her, and Marinegge squeezed her thighs together. “And you would let me come in your mouth.” 

Marinette met his eyes, and she held his gaze as she lowered herself onto her elbows and kissed the weeping tip of his cock. Adrien hissed through clenched teeth, hips bucking desperately when she blew warm breath onto the wet tip. Her fingers still wrapped around the base, Marinette hollowed her cheeks and sucked his cock into her mouth, hot and wet and tight, and Adrien’s fingers wove into her hair to keep her steady. 

Any other night, she might have made him work for it a little more. But tonight she wanted to fulfill his fantasy, even if that meant that it was short-lived. 

Marinette let Adrien control the pace at which she sucked him, her tongue curling along the underside of his cock when she was able to, before he thrusted deep into her mouth until the tip bumped against the back of her throat and she had to breathe through the urge to gag. 

Adrien moaned out loudly, fingers gathering her hair and gripping it tightly, hips bucking faster. “A-Ah, like that—“ 

Her eyes were wet with hot tears and it was growing difficult for her to breathe, and Marinette’s own fingers worked furiously against her small bundle of nerves as Adrien fucked into her mouth. She gurgled around him — not really saying anything in particular, but Adrien seemed to like that her throat tightened whenever she did it, and he was gripping her hair so tightly that her skull was beginning to ache. 

Marinette pulled back briefly to gasp in a breath, all the while stroking his cock, wet with precome and her saliva, and she kissed and lapped at the tip before bringing him into her mouth again. 

“Fuck,” Adrien swore, and it made her stomach knot. 

She looked up at him, eyes wet and lips smeared with spit, and Adrien was watching her too, biting down hard on his bottom lip. She blinked at him, neck turning so she could twist her tongue around his cock. 

“Fuck— Fuck— Coming—“ He cried out, and Marinette pulled back slightly so she had more room to jerk him off, and she shut her eyes as Adrien came into her mouth, come hot and sticky on her tongue and down her throat. She pulled off his cock with a loud gasp, throat aching slightly as she struggled to swallow all of the white seed — not a single drop to go to waste. 

She was still circling her clit, needy and desperate for her own release, and Adrien reached for her, fingers digging into her thighs and tugging her towards him. 

“Sit on my face,” Adrien told her, and despite letting her boyfriend finish in her mouth just moments ago, Marinette still had the audacity to blush. 

“W—What?” Marinette stammered. 

“Come on, Bug,” he said, and he’d already dragged her up his chest so she was kneeling over his head. “Sit on my face so I can eat you out.” 

She was reluctant, but she slowly lowered herself down, shivering when she felt Adrien’s warm, harsh breaths between her thighs. She must have been moving too slow, because Adrien gripped onto her thighs and forced her down onto his mouth, and Marinette gasped out a choked gasp when Adrien tugged the string of lace away from her wet cunt and replaced it with his tongue. 

“A—Adrien!” Marinette cried out, and her eyes rolled back into her head as Adrien held her close, fingers working unrelentingly around her clit. 

She was close already — having already done half of the work when she was sucking him off, and she could feel her thighs trembling on either side of Adrien’s head. She was almost entirely certain that he was the one keeping her upright right now, and if he were to let her go, she would highly likely collapse against him. 

“Come on, Marinette,” Adrien mumbled into her cunt. 

He had called her Marinette when she had specifically told him that she _wasn’t_ Marinette for the time being, but she couldn’t bring herself to really care when she was so close to her own climax. 

Adrien sink two fingers into her, and Marinette choked on a strangled sob as he pressed against her spongey walls — hot and tight and squeezing against his fingers like a vice. 

“Adrien,” Marinette panted out, because it was the only thing on her mind. “Adrien,” and again, “Adrien!” 

She threw her head back when she came, and she was still briefly aware of Adrien lapping up her climax between her thighs, but her head was buzzing and her body was exhausted, and when Adrien’s hold around her thighs finally slackened, Marinette rolled off him and onto her back. 

They could have been laying there for hours — Marinette was too tired and high on her climax to be aware of the flow of time. She would need to get up soon and clean herself off. 

“Hey, Ladybug?” Adrien asked. 

Marinette hummed in response. 

“Please don’t tell my girlfriend about this.” 

Marinette snorted out a laugh, even if it did hurt her throat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me finishing a halloween-related chapter when christmas is literally next week smh sorry everyone 
> 
> as always, thank u sm for ur patience and for reading, i appreciate ur support. pls leave ur thoughts and comments as i love reading them! 
> 
> i’m going to end the story very soon! a TINY amount of angst to come & then i’m gonna wrap it up! thanks for reading thus far!


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